Excerpt from article in the March Public Involvement News - DOE Oak Ridge
....."Performed treatability studies for mercury-contaminated soils. Soils were obtained from a Y-12 excavation and sent to three vendors to perform the studies. The goal was to stabilize mercury within the soils so that the soil meets waste acceptance criteria at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, which reduces overall costs of disposal. Nine stabilization technologies potentially applicable to the Y-12 site soils were identified. ".......
...and there's a very good chance MBS will be the solution chosen!
www.ucor.com/_docs/news/PubInvNews.pdf
Five mercury projects being performed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were completed in February, with URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, issuing the final reports.
The projects ranged from planning new facilities and planning for cost-effective disposition of mercury-contaminated media, to removing old, abandoned tanks containing mercury. All are part of getting ready for an upcoming major focus on mercury cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
In the area of Y-12 known as the West End Mercury Area, or WEMA, multiple facilities produced a lithium isotope fundamental to the development of the hydrogen weapon. Mercury was used in that process. In those facilities, various amounts of mercury are present in the process pipes and equipment, drains and sumps, soil surrounding the facilities, storm sewers, and stream sediments.