The Customer Challenge
The customer had approximately 16 cubic metres of LLW sludge that they required to be disposed of to the Low Level Waste Repository. The challenge set was to dispose of this waste, meeting LLWR requirements of waste minimisation and compliance with the Conditions for Acceptance.
The Tradebe Inutec Solution
Tradebe Inutec was able to transport the LLW sludge from the customers site, utilising its own IP2 certificated Full Height ISO container, back to Winfrith for processing. Rather than direct encapsulation of the waste with cement (a process resulting in a net waste volume increase) Tradebe Inutec were able to offer a waste drying and supercompaction service to significantly reduce the volume of waste for disposal. The waste was first dried within the Tradebe Inutec Wet Waste Dryer and then supercompacted within the Tradebe Inutec Mobile Supercompaction Plant. The final volume of processed waste for disposal to the LLWR was 7.2 cubic metres, an overall volume reduction of 2.2 as compared to the raw waste and 4.5 as compared to a typical cemented product.
Value to Customers
Tradebe Inutec offered a complete solution for the transfer, processing and disposal of the LLW sludge. Importantly, removing the waste for processing at Winfrith minimised any impact on the stations normal operations allowing them to concentrate on their core business. The solution offered by Tradebe Inutec provided a significant reduction in the final waste volume for disposal and hence the disposal charges to the client. As compared to cementation into 200 litre drums it is anticipated that the solution provided a disposal volume cost saving of the order of £150k.