DISCLAIMER This Technology Guide, developed by USEPA, is meant to be a summary of information available for technologies demonstrated to be effective for treatment of radioactively contaminated media. Inclusion of technologies in this Guide should not be viewed as an endorsement ofeither the technology or the vendor by USEPA. Similarly, exclusion of any technology should not be viewed as not being endorsed by USEPA; it merely means that the information related to that technology was not so readily available during the development of this Guide. Also, the technology-specific performance and cost data presented in this document are somewhat subjective as they are from a limited number of demonstration projects and based on professional judgment. In addition, all images used in this document are from public domain or have been used with permission. FORWARD The Technology Reference Guidance for Radioactively Contaminated Media (Guide) is intended to aid in the selection of treatment technologies for remediation of radioactively contaminated media. The Guide is designed to help site managers, Remedial Program Managers (RPM), On-Scene Coordinators (OSC), their contractors and others to identify and understand technologies that are potentially useful in the remediation of radioactively contaminated media. This Guide is designed to give easy access to critical information on applied technologies that address radioactive contamination in solid and liquid media. The solid media includes soils, sediments, sludge and solid waste, but does not include buildings and structures. The liquid media includes groundwater, surface water, leachate and waste water. The Guide is an update of the 1996 document "Technology Screening Guide for Radioactively Contaminated Site," EPA-402-R-96-017. New technologies have been added. The Guide is primarily targeted at Superfund or Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) sites. It is hoped that it will be useful for other sites facing similar problems. The Guide is a snapshot in time and may be updated again in the future. If you have any comments on the document or suggestions for incorporation in future updates, please contact: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Radiation and Indoor Air Radiation Protection Division 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (MC 6608J) Washington, DC 20460-0001 U.S. Phone: (202) 343-9290 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF EXHIBITS vii LIST OF APPENDICIES viii LIST OF ACRONYMS ix EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xi 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 PURPOSE 1 1.2 BACKGROUND 2 1.3 GENERAL INFORMATION RELATED TO RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED SITES 3 1.3.1 Types of Sites 3 1.3.2 Characteristics of Radioactively Contaminated NPL Sites 3 1.3.3 General Remedial Response Actions 5 1.4 TECHNICAL APPROACH USED 6 1.4.1 Technologies Presented 6 1.4.2 Technology Profile Organization 7 1.4.3 Summaries of Technologies 8 1.5 TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION RESOURCES ON THE WEB 18 1.6 ORGANIZATION AND USE OF THIS GUIDE 19 2.0 SOLID MEDIA TECHNOLOGY PROFILES 21 2.1 CONTAINMENT TECHNOLOGIES 21 2.1.1 Capping 21 2.1.2 Land Encapsulation 27 2.1.3 Cryogenic Barriers 33 2.1.4 Vertical Barriers 39 2.2 SOLIDIFICATION/STABILIZATION 47 2.2.1 Cement Solidification/Stabilization 49 2.2.2 Chemical Solidification/Stabilization 57 2.3 CHEMICAL SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES 65 2.3.1 Solvent/Chemical Extraction 65 2.4 PHYSICAL SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES 73 2.4.1 Dry Soil Separation 73 2.4.2 Soil Washing 80 2.4.3 Flotation 88 2.5 VITRIFICATION 92 2.5.1 In-Situ Vitrification 92 v 2.5.2 Ex-Situ Vitrification 99 2.6 BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT 107 2.6.1 Phytorel11ediation 107 3.0 LIQUID MEDIA TECHNOLOGY PROFILES 115 3.1 CHEMICAL SEPARATION 115 3.1.1 Ion Exchange 115 3.1.2 Chemicul Precipitation 123 3.1.3 Permeable Reactive Barriers 129 3.2 PHYSICAL SEPARATION 138 3.2.1 Membrane Filtration 138 3.2.2 Adsorption 145 3.2.3 Aerati0 111 150 3.3 BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT 155 3.3.1 Phytorelllediation 156 3.4 NATURAL ATTENUATION 162 3.4.1 Monitomd Natural Attenuation 162 4.0 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES 169 4.1 ELECTROKINETICS 169 4.2 SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION 170 4.3 MAGNETIC SEPARATION 171 4.4 BACTERIAL REDUCTION 173 4.5 IN-SITU GASEOUS REDUCTION 174 vi LIST OF EXHIBITS Exhibit 1-1: Isotope Distribution at Radioactively Contaminated NPL Sites 4 Exhibit 1-2: NPL Sites by Radionuclide and Media 5 Exhibit 1-3: Summary of Solid and Liquid Media Technologies 9 Exhibit 1-4: Technologies Sorted by Applicable Media 16 Exhibit 1-5: Technologies Sorted by Radionuclide Type 17 Exhibit 1-6: Using the Technology Profiles 20 Exhibit 2-1: Typical Cap for Radioactive Waste 22 Exhibit 2-2: Operating Characteristics of Capping 23 Exhibit 2-3: Cap Construction Costs 25 Exhibit 2-4: Land Encapsulation 28 Exhibit 2-5: Operating Characteristics of Land Encapsulation 29 Exhibit 2-6: Cryogenic Barrier 33 Exhibit 2-7: Operating Characteristics of Cryogenic Barriers 35 Exhibit 2-8: Vertical Barriers 40 Exhibit 2-9: Operating Characteristics of Vertical Barriers 41 Exhibit 2-10: Vertical Barrier Construction Costs 43 Exhibit 2-11: Ex-Situ Solidification/Stabilization 48 Exhibit 2-12: In-Situ Solidification/Stabilization 48 Exhibit 2-13: Operating Characteristics of Cement Solidification/Stabilization 51 Exhibit 2-14: Operating Characteristics of Chemical Solidification/Stabilization 59 Exhibit 2-15: Solvent Extraction 66 Exhibit 2-16: Operating Characteristics of Solvent/Chemical Extraction 68 Exhibit 2-17: Dry Soil Separation 74 Exhibit 2-18: Operating Characteristics of Dry Soil Separation 75 Exhibit 2-19: Performance of Segmented Gate System 77 Exhibit 2-20: Soil Washing 81 Exhibit 2-21: Operating Characteristics of Soil Washing 83 Exhibit 2-22: Performance of Soil Washing 84 Exhibit 2-23: Flotation 88 Exhibit 2-24: Operating Characteristics of Flotation 89 Exhibit 2-25: In-situ Vitrification 93 Exhibit 2-26: Operating Characteristics of In-situ Vitrification 95 Exhibit 2-27: Ex-situ Vitrification 101 Exhibit 2-28: Operating Characteristics of Ex-situ Vitrification 102 Exhibit 2-29: Phytoremediation 108 Exhibit 2-30: Operating Characteristics of Phytoremediation 109 Exhibit 3-1: Ion Exchange 116 Exhibit 3-2: Operating Characteristics of Ion Exchange 118 Exhibit 3-3: Chemical Precipitation Diagram 124 Exhibit 3-4: Operating Characteristics of Chemical Precipitation 125 Exhibit 3-5: Permeable Reactive Barriers ; 130 vii '--- L_IS__T_O_F_EX_H_I_B_IT_S--:<__C_O_N_TI_N_U_E_D..:.-) J Exhibit 3-6: Operating Characteristics of Permeable Reactive Barriers 13'1 Exhibit 3-7: Performance of Perrneable Reactive Barriers 132 Exhibit 3-8: Permeable Reactive Barrier Costs 134 Exhibit 3-9: Membrane Filtration 139 Exhibit 3-10: Operating CharactE!ristics of Membrane Filtration 140 Exhibit 3-11: Carbon Adsorption Diagram 14S Exhibit 3-12: Operating CharactE!ristics of Adsorption 14H Exhibit 3-13: Aeration 1511 Exhibit 3-14: Operating CharactE!ristics of Aeration 15~~ Exhibit 3-15: Phytoremediation 15jr Exhibit 3-16: Operating CharactE!ristics of Phytoremediation 15U Exhibit 3-17: Monitored Natural Attenuation 16:~ Exhibit 3-18: Operating CharactE!ristics of Monitored Natural Attenuation 164 Exhibit A-1: NPL Sites and Rad ionuclides Detected A-11 Exhibit B-1: Statutory and Regulatory Categories of Radioactive Waste.. " B-~~ Exhibit B-2: Principal Decay Sc:heme of the Uranium Series, " B-S Exhibit B-3: Radiological Chamcteristics of Selected Radionuclides Found at Superfund Sites , B-Ei 1.....--_--------------LIST OF APPENDICES ] APPENDIX A NPL SITES AND RADIONUCLIDES DETECTED APPENDIX B RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION: BASIC CONCEPTS AND TERMS APPENDIX C SUGGESTED READING LIST APPENDIX D DEFINITION OF' TREATMENT viii LIST OF ACRONYMS ACOE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers AEA Atomic Energy Act AECL Atomic Energy of Canada, Limited AFO Amorphous Ferric Oxyhydroxide ANL Argonne National Laboratory ANS American Nuclear Society ANSI American National Standards Institute ARAR Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Regulations ARM Accelerator-Produced Radioactive Material BOAT Best Demonstrated Available Technology BNL Brookhaven National Laboratory BRAC U.S. DOD Base Realignment and Closure CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) CFC Chlorofluorocarbon CFR Code of Federal Regulations CLU-IN EPA Hazardous Waste Clean-Up Information System DNA Defense Nuclear Agency DOD U.S. Department of Defense DOE U.S. Department of Energy DOT U.S. Department of Transportation DWPF Defense Waste Processing Facility EDTA Ethy/enediamine-tetraacetic acid EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency FRTR Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable FUSRAP Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program GAC Granular Activated Carbon GCC Greater-Than-Class-C Waste GW Groundwater HOPE High Density Polyethylene HEPA High Efficiency Particulate Air HLW High Level Radioactive Waste IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency ISV In-situ Vitrification ITRC Interstate Technology Regulatory Council KEI Kapline Enterprises Inc. LANL Los Alamos National Laboratory LEHR Laboratory for Energy-Related Health Research NARM Naturally Occurring and Accelerator-Produced Radioactive Materials NAVFAC Naval Facilities Engineering Command NCP National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan NORM Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials NPL National Priorities List NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSWER EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency