RESULTS OF ROUTINE STRIP EFFLUENT HOLD TANK AND DECONTAMINATED SALT SOLUTION HOLD TANK SAMPLES FROM MODULAR CAUSTIC-SIDE SOLVENT EXTRACTION UNIT DURING MACROBATCH 3 OPERATIONS

Strip Effluent Hold Tank (SEHT) and Decontaminated Salt Solution Hold Tank (DSSHT) samples from several of the 'microbatches' of Integrated Salt Disposition Project (ISDP) Salt Batch ('Macrobatch') 3 have been analyzed for {sup 238}Pu, {sup 90}Sr, {sup 137}Cs, and by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (ICPES). The results indicate good decontamination performance within process design expectations. While the data set is sparse, the results of this set and the previous set of results for Macrobatch 3 samples indicate consistent operations. However, the Decontamination Factors for plutonium and strontium removal have declined in Macrobatch 3, compared to Macrobatch 2. This may be due to the differences in the Pu concentration or the bulk chemical concentrations in the feed material. SRNL is considering the possible reasons for this decline. The DSSHT samples show continued presence of titanium, likely from leaching of the monosodium titanate in ARP. During operation of the ISDP, quantities of salt waste are processed through the Actinide Removal Process (ARP) and MCU in batches of {approx}3800 gallons. Monosodium titanate (MST) is used in ARP to adsorb actinides and strontium from the salt waste and the waste slurry is then filtered prior to sending the clarified salt solution to MCU. The MCU uses solvent extraction technology to extract cesium from salt waste and concentrate cesium in an acidic aqueous stream (Strip Effluent - SE), leaving a decontaminated caustic salt aqueous stream (Decontaminated Salt Solution - DSS). Sampling occurs in the Decontaminated Salt Solution Hold Tank (DSSHT) and Strip Effluent Hold Tank (SEHT) in the MCU process. The MCU sample plan requires that batches be sampled and analyzed for plutonium and strontium content by Savannah River National Lab (SRNL) to determine MST effectiveness. The cesium measurement is used to monitor cesium removal effectiveness and the inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICPES) is used to monitor inorganic carryover