Second phase of vitrification demonstration for environmental remediation to take place

Contact: David Lyons, (505) 665 9198 (00-046)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 30, 2000 -- On Tuesday, the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory will begin the second phase of a vitrification technology demonstration, which uses electrical energy to convert contaminated soil into an inert, environmentally benign glass-like block.

The demonstration, sponsored by DOE's Environmental Management Office of Science and Technology and the Subsurface Contamination Focus Area, is expected to last approximately two weeks. Los Alamos' Environmental Restoration Project has chosen a material disposal area on D.P. Road on the east side of Los Alamos as the host site for the demonstration.

The ER Project also plans an open house for the public from 1:30 to 4 p.m. April 26 in Room 160 of Los Alamos' Canyon School Training Complex, located at the junction of Trinity Drive and Central Avenue, to discuss the results from last year's successful first phase of the demonstration, in which nonhazardous chemicals served as surrogates for actual contaminants.

The open house will include an overview of processes involved for this second demonstration and a tour of the project site.

Using nontraditional in-situ vitrification, or NTISV, researchers from Los Alamos, DOE, MSE Technology Applications Inc. in Butte, Mont., and Geosafe Corp. in Richland, Wash., will vitrify and immobilize contaminants at a site known as Material Disposal Area V.

This site once served as a disposal area for a now-closed facility that laundered radionuclide-contaminated garments. The facility had three discharge absorption beds that from 1945 to 1961 accepted about 40 million gallons of waste containing inorganic compounds and radionuclides, including americium, plutonium, uranium, strontium and tritium.

The ER Project chose this site for the demonstration based on the variety of contaminants located there. The central section of the northernmost absorption bed, an area roughly 20 feet long, 30 feet wide and 22 feet deep, will be vitrified in the demonstration.

"If the demonstration proves successful, then this technology could provide a remediation solution for selected sites across the DOE complex," said NTISV Project Leader Marja Springer.

To vitrify the mass of cobble, gravel, soil and contaminants, four electrodes have been inserted into the ground, and on Tuesday an electrical current will be applied to them. Over the next two weeks, power gradually will be increased to more than three million watts, raising the temperature of the material to between 2,200 and 2,550 degrees Centigrade. The underground melt zone will slowly increase in width and depth during this time.

As the material melts, virtually all organic chemical contaminants are broken down. Any gases that may be released into the atmosphere as a result will be continuously monitored and filtered by air treatment systems. Only filtered air will be discharged into the atmosphere during the demonstration.

As the soil cools over the next several months, the contaminants will be entombed in an inert, glass-like chunk that can be left in place or removed from the site. Project team members believe that by October, the vitrified site should be cool enough to obtain samples and determine whether the demonstration was successful.

NTISV has generated great interest from the New Mexico Environment Department, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory, Citizens' Advisory Boards from New Mexico, Colorado and Idaho, and many others.

In situ vitrification technology has successfully been used at a number of contaminated sites over the past 20 years to stabilize a broad range of contaminants in various soil conditions. Nontraditional ISV differs from traditional ISV in that it melts material from the bottom up instead of from the top down.

NOTE TO REPORTERS: Media are invited to attend the open house. If you are interested in attending, call Ternel Martinez at (505) 665-7778.

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