Provided herein is a method for reducing radiologically-contaminated waste. The method comprises treating radiologically-contaminated surfaces, wherein the radiologically-contaminated surfaces are treated with a surface treatment agent; treating radiologically-contaminated subsurfaces, wherein the radiologically-contaminated subsurfaces are treated with a surface/subsurface treatment agent; consolidating soil waste; employing real-time scanning technology to classify waste, wherein the classifying is based at least in part on a threshold of radiological contamination, and wherein the classified waste is sorted based on the classification; and disposing of the waste via at least one of different disposal routes, based at least in part on the classification.

A device comprises a raw material conveyor, a raw material mixer, a liquid waste conveying pipeline, an additive tank, a powder waste conveyor, an output pump, a liquid supply pump, a liquid supply manifold, an output manifold, a mixed liquid conveying pipeline, a high-pressure injection pump, a high-pressure pipeline, and a wellhead sealing device. The method includes: drilling a well; forming a fracture in the granite stratum; preparing a raw material; and injecting, by using a disposal device, a sand-carrying feed liquid from a high-pressure injection pump into the fracture of the underground granite stratum, so as to perform solidification. The method has low cost, high disposal efficiency, simple device structure, high usability, safety and reliability, and an effective reduction in nuclear waste contamination and hazards to the environment.

A device comprises a raw material conveyor, a raw material mixer, a liquid waste conveying pipeline, an additive tank, a powder waste conveyor, an output pump, a liquid supply pump, a liquid supply manifold, an output manifold, a mixed liquid conveying pipeline, a high-pressure injection pump, a high-pressure pipeline, and a wellhead sealing device. The method includes: drilling a well; forming a fracture in the granite stratum; preparing a raw material; and injecting, by using a disposal device, a sand-carrying feed liquid from a high-pressure injection pump into the fracture of the underground granite stratum, so as to perform solidification. The method has low cost, high disposal efficiency, simple device structure, high usability, safety and reliability, and an effective reduction in nuclear waste contamination and hazards to the environment.

A waste extraction system includes a precipitation tank comprising a waste stream input, a solution input, and a waste stream output, wherein the waste stream input is fluidly coupled to an upstream segment of a main waste pathway, a column effluent tank, an adsorption column positioned between and fluidly coupled to the precipitation tank and the column effluent tank along the main waste pathway, wherein the adsorption column houses an ion exchange resin and is positioned downstream the precipitation tank, a solution pathway extending from a solution source to the solution input of the precipitation tank, the solution source housing an alkaline solution, and a particle filtration unit positioned between and fluidly coupled to the precipitation tank and the adsorption column.

Techniques for storing nuclear waste hazardous material include identifying a storage area of a directional wellbore formed from a terranean surface and extending into a subterranean formation; circulating a slurry that includes a hardenable material and one or more portions of nuclear waste hazardous material into the storage area; forming a seal in the directional wellbore that isolates the storage area of the directional wellbore from an entry of the directional wellbore; monitoring at least one variable associated with the one or more portions of nuclear waste hazardous material from a sensor positioned proximate the storage area; recording the monitored variable at the terranean surface; and based on the monitored variable exceeding a threshold value, removing the seal from the wellbore and retrieving at least a portion of the slurry from the storage area to the terranean surface.

A process for immobilizing hazardous waste includes mixing the hazardous waste with a non-swelling clay, a cementitious binder and, optionally, water, and allowing the resulting mixture to set to an immobilized waste material. The process can also include dispersing the hazardous waste in the non-swelling clay to form a dry mixture, mixing the cementitious binder and, optionally, water with the dry mixture to produce a plastic mixture, and allowing the plastic mixture to set to the immobilized waste material.

A hazardous material storage bank includes a wellbore extending into the Earth and including an entry at least proximate a terranean surface, the wellbore including a substantially vertical portion, a transition portion, and a substantially horizontal portion; a storage area coupled to the substantially horizontal portion of the well bore, the storage area within or below a shale formation, the storage area vertically isolated, by the shale formation, from a subterranean zone that includes mobile water; a storage container positioned in the storage area, the storage container sized to fit from the wellbore entry through the substantially vertical, the transition, and the substantially horizontal portions of the wellbore, and into the storage area, the storage container including an inner cavity sized enclose hazardous material; and a seal positioned in the wellbore, the seal isolating the storage portion of the wellbore from the entry of the wellbore.

A hazardous material storage bank includes a wellbore extending into the Earth and including an entry at least proximate a terranean surface, the wellbore including a substantially vertical portion, a transition portion, and a substantially horizontal portion; a storage area coupled to the substantially horizontal portion of the well bore, the storage area within or below a shale formation, the storage area vertically isolated, by the shale formation, from a subterranean zone that includes mobile water; a storage container positioned in the storage area, the storage container sized to fit from the wellbore entry through the substantially vertical, the transition, and the substantially horizontal portions of the wellbore, and into the storage area, the storage container including an inner cavity sized enclose hazardous material; and a seal positioned in the wellbore, the seal isolating the storage portion of the wellbore from the entry of the wellbore.

Described herein are cementitious composite materials incorporating carbon nanostructures (e.g., nanotubes, nanoplatelets, nanoribbons) that are employed as amendments (i.e., admixtures or additives) to cementitious waste forms as a means to enhance radionuclide and hazardous waste (e.g., heavy metals, toxic organics) retention wherein the incorporation of well-dispersed carbon nanostructures yields more effective waste forms through the resulting modification of the cementitious composite nano-, micro-, and meso-structure (e.g., hindering the infiltration of oxygen and the leaching of waste), and the chemical interactions between chemically-affine waste molecules and the amended cementitious composite.

A hazardous material storage bank includes a wellbore extending into the Earth and including an entry at least proximate a terranean surface, the wellbore including a substantially vertical portion, a transition portion, and a substantially horizontal portion; a storage area coupled to the substantially horizontal portion of the well bore, the storage area within or below a shale formation, the storage area vertically isolated, by the shale formation, from a subterranean zone that includes mobile water; a storage container positioned in the storage area, the storage container sized to fit from the wellbore entry through the substantially vertical, the transition, and the substantially horizontal portions of the wellbore, and into the storage area, the storage container including an inner cavity sized enclose hazardous material; and a seal positioned in the wellbore, the seal isolating the storage portion of the wellbore from the entry of the wellbore.