Biological treatment of mixed wastes: a safer alternative to incineration
William T. Stringfellow, Tatsuyuki Komada, and Li-Yang Chang
Research Objectives
The objective of this research was to develop a biological
treatment process that could serve as an alternative to incineration
for the treatment of mixed wastes. Mixed wastes are wastes that
contain both radioactive materials and hazardous chemicals. Radioactive
wastes are regulated under the Atomic Energy Act and are most safely
disposed of in a secure landfill where the radioactivity is excluded
from the biosphere. Hazardous wastes are regulated under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and are prohibited from disposal
in landfills. Hazardous waste regulations take priority, and mixed
wastes are typically incinerated. During incineration, radioactivity
is released directly to the biosphere.
The advantage of biological treatment is that radioactivity can
be contained during treatment of the hazardous waste component.
Once the hazardous waste component is treated biologically, the
waste is no longer regulated under RCRA, and the radioactivity can
be kept from the biosphere.
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the 1-page pdf here.
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 Drip-feed bioreactor schematic
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