Technical assessment of processes to enable recycling of low-level contaminated metal waste

Accumulations of metal waste exhibiting low levels of radioactivity (LLCMW) have become a national burden, both financially and environmentally. Much of this metal could be considered as a resource. The Department of Energy was assigned the task of inventorying and classifying LLCMW, identifying potential applications, and applying and/or developing the technology necessary to enable recycling. One application for recycled LLCMW is high-quality canisters for permanent repository storage of high-level waste (HLW). As many as 80,000 canisters will be needed by 2035. Much of the technology needed to decontaminate LLCMW has already been developed, but no integrated process has been described, even on a pilot scale, for recycling LLCMW into HLW canisters. This report reviews practices for removal of radionuclides and for producing low carbon stainless steel. Contaminants that readily form oxides may be reduced to below de minimis levels and combined with a slag. Most of the radioactivity remaining in the ingot is concentrated in the inclusions. Radionuclides that chemically resemble the elements that comprise stainless steel can not be removed effectively. Slag compositions, current melting practices, and canister fabrication techniques were reviewed