ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case study serving as a successful benchmark for evaluation of other projects being undertaken at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The West Valley Demonstration Project Act authorized the United States Department of Energy to conduct a nuclear waste management project at the former commercial nuclear fuel-reprocessing facility at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center near West Valley, New York. One of the West Valley Demonstration Project's main objectives is to solidify the high-level waste into a form suitable for transportation to, and disposal at a federal repository. A related objective is to minimize the amount of radioactivity disposed of as low-level waste (LLW). The zeolite ion-exchange process ranked high because of its relative simplicity, low level of safety and environmental concerns, and low impact on the liquid waste treatment system. The phosphotungstic acid process ranked second only because of its relative complexity and greater LLW volume.
