Patent Number: 046363637
Section: summary

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to apparatus and method for conditioning radioactive wastes for ultimate storage, using a multicomponent binding agent, with a continuous-flow mixer, a filling station for the ultimate storage barrels, a receiving tank for liquid waste materials, a silo for component for the binding agent, and several conveyors. 2. Description of the Prior Art Customarily, the multicomponent binding agents, particularly water-hardening cements, are mixed with the wastes in the ultimate storage barrels, for instance in the so-called standard drums of 200 liters volume. Usually, "lost" stirrers are used here as is described, for instance, in German Published Prosecuted Application DE-AS No. 3 009 005. From the journal "Power", October 1979, pages 81-87, it is also known to take liquid wastes from a mixing tank via a feed pump to a mixing pump which is fed with cement from a cement silo. The mixing pump discharges into a filling station, in which sodium silicate is added by another conveyor pump. Everything is then transported into drums which are shipped to ultimate storage. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide apparatus and method for conditioning different radioactive wastes into a small waste volume capable of ultimate storage. The installation known from the journal "Power" is not suitable for this purpose because it can process only liquid wastes. In addition, there is the danger that different liquid wastes may lead to different consistencies of the end product, which is a factor in whether the enclosure will safely contain the activity carriers. In the plant according to German Published Prosecuted Application DE-AS No. 3 009 005, mentioned at the outset, the equipment requirements are undesirably large. In this connection, the stirrer which gets lost in each barrel, should be mentioned. With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided in accordance with the invention an apparatus for conditioning radioactive wastes with a multicomponent binding agent to form a wastes/binding agent mixture for ultimate storage comprising (a) a silo for one binding agent component of a multicomponent binding agent (b) a container for flowable wastes (c) a premixer in which the one binding agent component and the flowable wastes are mixed (d) conduit means including a throughput measuring device for introducing measured amounts of the one binding agent component into the intake side of the premixer (e) a second conduit means including a throughput measuring device for introducing measured amounts of the flowable wastes into the intake side of the premixer (f) a receiver tank for liquid waste materials (g) a continuous-flow mixer having a mixing device for mixing incoming liquid waste materials with the mixture of the one binding agent component and flowable wastes from the premixer, and a discharge conveyor device at the discharge end of the continuous-flow mixer for the discharge of the mixture therein (h) transfer means including a dosing conveyor device connecting the discharge side of the premixer with one end of the continuous-flow mixer for introducing measured amounts of the mixture in the premixer into the continuous-flow mixer (i) a third conduit means including a throughput measuring device for introducing measured amounts of the liquid waste materials from the receiver tank into the continuous-flow mixer for admixture with the mixture of the one binding agent component and flowable wastes from the premixer (j) a filling station having an ultimate storage container for the containment of the waste/binding agent mixture in the continuous-flow mixer, and (k) conduit means from the discharge end of the continuous-flow mixer to the filling station for passage of the waste/binding agent mixture to the ultimate storage container. In accordance with the invention, there is provided a method for conditioning radioactive wastes with a multicomponent binding agent to form a wastes/binding agent mixture for ultimate storage which comprises introducing measured amounts of one binding agent of a multicomponent binding agent and measured amounts of flowable wastes into the inlet side of a premixer wherein they are mixed, introducing the mixture of the one binding agent and the flowable wastes discharged from the premixer into one end of a continuous-flow mixer containing a mixing device for mixing incoming materials and a discharge conveyor device at the other end of the continuous-flow mixer, introducing measured amounts of liquid waste materials into the continuous-flow mixer for admixture with the mixture of the one binding agent component and the flowable wastes from the premixer, passing the waste/binding agent mixture from the discharge end of the continuous-flow mixer to a filling station and filling an ultimate storage container at the filling station with the waste/binding agent mixture. Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an apparatus and method for conditioning radioactive wastes for ultimate storage, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.