Importance

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Abstract

Waste material containing hazardous or radio-active species is treated by: separating a portion of the waste material and identifying the particle size range of the severely contaminated fraction by use of a sieving apparatus (6) and a contamination detection apparatus (8); passing the waste material (15) near a contamination detection apparatus (12) to identify the waste material that is contaminated and segregate that material by a diverter (17) to provide contaminated portion (19); passing the contaminated portion (19) into a fluidized bed apparatus (16) where an aqueous leaching solution (21), effective to leach soluble, contamination species, contacts the contaminated material at an upward velocity effective to remove the particle size range that is determined to contain the severely contaminated fraction of the waste material, to provide a severely contaminated effluent slurry (24); and removing the leach solution from the slurry in a dewatering apparatus (26) to provide a solution (27) containing solubilized, severely contaminated species.

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First Claim