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Low-Level Radioactive Waste

Dealing safely and effectively with low-level radioactive waste requires an extremely high level of specialized expertise, technology and capabilities. Veolia Environmental Services offers a broad range of services to companies with radioactive waste, equipment and components at our Alaron facility in Wampum, PA. The facility’s licensing allows for the processing, decontamination, storage, packaging and handling of radioactive material and equipment, and also includes allowances for outside companies to perform work with contaminated equipment within our facility.

Expert Low-Level Radioactive Waste and Onsite Services

Veolia’s trained field service personnel can identify and classify many types of common radioactive and mixed wastes. Our professionals are experienced in:

Obtaining approvals for processing and disposing waste at our own facilities and at third-party sites that pass our strict audit program
Packaging waste efficiently and cost effectively, in compliance with all EPA, DOT, state and waste acceptance criteria standards
Completing manifests and shipping papers, as well as arranging all transportation to ensure safe arrival at the selected processing facilities

Veolia’s onsite professionals can help you manage all the challenges of handling your low-level radioactive wastes. Services include collecting low-level radioactive waste from labs and transferring it to storage rooms; packaging and labeling containers; tracking and keeping records of radioactive material in containers, including material stored for decay; conducting lab surveys; and coordinating waste shipments.

Our personnel can manage incoming package receipts in accordance with each generator’s procedures and surveys, as specified in the company’s radioactive materials license. Our experienced radioactive project managers can also provide training, performance audits, and procedure and program reviews to help ensure total compliance.

Licensed facility access: storage, decontamination and testing services for companies without a licensed facility
Dry active waste: ship paper, wood, plastic, protective clothing and soft trash to our facility for processing
Metals: large components, such as turbine rotors and components, large tanks, structured steel and lead encased stainless steel casks
Sludges and wet waste: manage off-site processing of liquid radioactive waste material
Source recovery: consolidate sources prior to disposal, components disassembled to separate the source from lead shielding, recycle Americium
Motor and pump refurbishment: for any size equipment, both safety and non-safety items
Transportation: standard 20' and 40' containers, specialty containers, switching station services, rail or truck shipments
Spent fuel shipping: rail and truck access, any size canisters
Machine shop with “N” stamp welding and fabrication: perform work under our license in our machine shop with your own machinist
Storage: licensed to store radioactive materials
Coatings and painting: nuclear Service Level 1 coating

Permitted Facility

Services

Licensed Facilty Access

Alaron currently provides a fully equipped decontamination facility and equipped hot machine shop to companies who repair and refurbish:

Pumps
Motors
Valves
Actuators

Alaron also provides storage, decontamination, and testing services for companies who own contaminated equipment but do not have a licensed facility. Examples are:

Casks
Fuel Pool Equipment
Wet Waste Processing
Transportation Containers
Testing Equipment

With over 150,000 square feet of indoor space, a 60 ton overhead crane, high bay areas, and a wide variety of decontamination techniques, Alaron is equipped to handle simple and complex jobs involving contaminated equipment.

Under Alaron's Licensed Facility Access Program, your company may perform work under Alaron's NRC License at Alaron's Facility.

For companies wishing to expand their business lines to handle contaminated equipment, Alaron can offer an attractive and very flexible lease and support contract that virtually eliminates future nuclear liabilities and initial investments. Existing space can be used or Alaron can build to suit on it's 25 acre site.
For details contact Sales at 1-724-535-5777 or 1-513-583-1744.

Dry Active Waste

Alaron offers DAW processing to many different customers, from Nuclear Utilities to Small quantity generators, such as Universities and Pharmaceutical companies.

DAW consists of Paper, Wood, Plastic, Protective Clothing and soft trash. Incoming shipments are received and placed in the storage area for SAW materials.

When the materials are ready for processing, Alaron stages the containers in Alaron's DAW Processing Area. All materials are inspected for Waste Acceptance Criteria Compliance and segregated into various Waste Streams.

DAW Volume reduction is approximately 50-65%.

Metals/Large Components

1. Alaron has extensive experience in Radioactive Metal Processing. Alaron has the ability to process contaminated metals in the following categories:Major Component Decontamination - Alaron utilizes a variety of decontamination methods, mechanical, chemical, automated and manual techniques. These various techniques are used on components such as:

Turbine Rotors and Associated Components
Large Tanks, either stainless steel or carbon steel
Structural steel including I-beams, H-beams, channel, angle, and plate steel
Lead encaised stainless steel casks

2. High-Dose Component Decontamination - Alaron performs decontamination of high-dose stainless steel and various lead components for the purpose of dose reduction for lower disposal costs, or decontamination to radioactive levels acceptable for unrestricted release.

Some of the specific materials processed by Alaron include:

Lead shielding materials including sheet, block, brick and blankets.
Components characterised by the potential for radiation doeses exceeding 100mr/hr such as shroud-head bolts, control rod drives, and heat exchangers

3. Decontamination of metals with significant scrap value - Alaron has been successful in processing for recycle certain scrap metals that hold a significant resale value to the scrap metal market. Some of these metals include copper (wiring, tubing, bars, etc.), brass, aluminum, and titanium.

4. Contaminated scrap metal volume reduction - Alaron provides this service only when none of the options mentioned above are compatible with the scrap metal in question. Alaron offers this service on a limited basis, and only upon request from our customers.

Asset Recovery

Alaron's Asset Recovery program focuses on the goal of the customer for operation and maintenance cost reductions and waste minimization.

Alaron will review and evaluate your inventory of contaminated and potentially contaminated equipment and components. These components may be recoverable assets to your company provided the radiological designations could be removed. On specific components which are candidates for recovery, Alaron will provide decontamination / free release, and refurbishment services. This effectively removes these items from inventory of radioactive waste liability, and restores them as valuable assets to your company.

The restored equipment will then be returned for reuse as clean / non-contaminated equipment or, as a broker service provided by Alaron, sold on the open market as non-contaminated / used equipment. Alaron has successfully brokered several components under this program.

Through Alaron's Asset Recovery Program, your company will realize true recycling through reuse of the recovered equipment for its original intended purpose as a non-radioactive item. This eliminates disposal and equipment replacement costs by avoiding having to scrap the equipment as radioactive waste.

To view some of the decontamination techniques employed by Alaron, click on one of the following links:

MechanicalDecontamination

Chemical Decontamination

If your company is faced with growing inventory of contaminated equipment that has the potential for being recovered and restored as valuable assets, please contact us.

Source Recovery

Alaron provides source recycling at our facility in Wampum, PA. This has proven to be a valuable service to the industry.

Alaron's Sealed Source Recovery Business provides customers with the ability to consolidate sources prior to disposal, have the components disassembled to separate the source from lead shielding, and recycle their Americium rather than disposal.

Radioactive sources are used in a range of applications in industry, medicine and research. Applications include:

Smoke detectors and exit signs
Radiotherapy
Thickness gauging of thin plastics, sheet metal, rubber, textiles, and paper
Well logging and road bed logging
Testing of radiation detection and contamination equipment

When the source is no longer required or radioactive decay has rendered the source unfit for its original purpose, the source itself must be replaced and either recycled or sent to a licensed disposal facility.

Alaron provides source disposal and re-cycling services. We offer:

Disposal / recycling of transuranic sources
A disposal and recycling service coupled with site dismantling, handling, packaging, and transportation capabilities.
A fully compliant service selecting the most appropriate methods and routing for a complete disposal service for our clients.

Alaron is fully committed to the specialized requirements of the users of radioactive sources.

Customers benefit from:

Removal of a financial and environmental liability
Access to a range of licensed disposal facilities
Access to a range of fully approved transport containers
A service fully compliant with NRC and international regulations

Motor Refurbishment

Alaron has a fully equipped motor facility for handling large motors. Alaron has the capability to work on contaminated and non contaminated motors of all sizes. The expansion now allows us to offer a full service for Reactor Coolant Pump Motors as well as Recirculation Pump Motors. Alaron has added to our infrastructure the equipment upgrades necessary to accommodate refurbishment or RCP and Recirculation Motors. The equipment upgrades include: Large Motor test stand and panel (15Kv), Burnout / Bakeout oven, 35,000 lb soft bearing and hard bearing balance machines, and two disassembly stands that can handle up to 9000HP Reactor Coolant Pump Motors (RCP's) both safety and non-safety related.

Alaron provides the decontamination facility, an experienced staff, and expertise for handling contaminated components.
Our current customers include:
- Westinghouse
- IPS / Monarch
- Flanders Electric
- EMC

For more information on Alaron's motor decontamination and repair services, please contact Sales at (724)535-5777 or (513)583-1744.

Pump Refurbishment

Alaron has joined efforts with several different Pump Refurbishment Companies to provide a variety of services to the Nuclear Industry. Several successful projects have been completed with our "Pump Partners"
For further information, please feel free to contact the following Pump Refurbishment representative:

HydroAire
Faisal Salman - Sales Engineer
(312)738-3000

Transportation

Alaron has been assisting our customers with their transportation needs since the company was started in the mid-80's. Since that time, Alaron has acquired a fleet of standard 20 and 40 foot containers. Alaron also maintains several specialty containers that assist customers in the transportation of "dimensionally challenged" items, such as fuel racks, large motors, turbine rotors, etc. It is Alaron's goal to make the transportation of radioactive material as effortless as possible for our customers.

COST SAVINGS! Alaron is located in the "Heart" of every major Utility in the East. This location is ideal for shipping material to disposal by rail. Many utilities ship material to Envirocare by truck. Alaron can be used as a "switching station" for all of this material. This switching alternative would generate considerable cost savings for the customer.

Alaron has rail access! This has been most useful in receiving large components such as turbine rotors and heavy, or oversized loads. The rail spur that services the Alaron site has just undergone extensive refurbishment in order to meet our increasing needs. Alaron can now accomodate up to fourty rail cars.

Spent Fuel Shipping

Welcome to the Spent Fuel Shipping Section of our website. We are very pleased to announce the completion of a new building specifically designed to support the DOE's mission at Yucca Mountain. This is the first commercial cask maintenance facility in the U.S. Please look through the pictures below for a virtual tour.

The building was designed to be a multi-purpose fuel cask maintenance facility. The crane capacity of 125 tons is large enough to handle all casks currently in use and will easily be able to handle the proposed TAD canisters. There is room to handle 8 large casks at one time or 16 TADs at one time. The building covers a truck bay and rail line. Casks can be shipped in via either truck or rail. Alaron's rail service provider is Norfolk Southern. The floor is specially designed with anchors that can withstand a 450 TON upward force exerted on them and will be used to anchor trunion load test rigs. These rigs and the associated hydraulics will allow Alaron to perform even the most demanding load tests. Ample space has been provided for vacuum leak checks and decontamination. Alaron is in the process of being certified as a rail car repair and maintenance facility so we can provide a complete service to fuel shippers who use rail.

The building is isolated from others so that in the future it can be secured for the transload of loaded fuel canisters from truck to rail. Alaron is well positioned on the East coast to be able to support the fuel shipment by rail. If you wish to arrange a tour of our new facility, please contact Steve Ferguson (513) 583-1744.
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NAC International Cask Maintenance

Alaron provides infrastructure and technical labor to support NAC's spent fuel shipping cask fleet. NAC's fleet contains multi-purpose casks that can be used for research reactor fuel and highly radioactive components. Alaron and NAC have over 15 years of experience in handling all phases of cask maintenance, repair, and shipping. The in-depth expertise will allow Alaron to successfully maintain larger commercial fuel casks in our new building.

Storage

Alaron has over 150,000 square feet of indoor storage space and approximately 25 acres of outdoor space. Many different customers utilize the storage facilities at Alaron for many different reasons. Some are:

Alaron's "Central Location" to a majority of the Nuclear Power Plants in the Northeast. This allows for rapid response to a Utility's urgent need of a vendor's help.
Storage of contaminated equipment is often less expensive than decontamination.
Many service providers to the Nuclear Industry do not have Radioactive Meterials Licenses, therefore they require a licensed facility to store their equipment.

Machine Shop

Alaron offers all of its machining equipment to companies needing to perform work under an NRC license but wishing to utilize their own machinist.
Alaron offers various machining equipment for our teaming partners and customers, such as:

Rafamet KCF 200
Verticle Turret Lathe
Giddings & Lewis Model 70E4-T
Manual Horizontal Boring Mill
LeBond Heavy Duty Lathe
Heavy Duty Lathe
36" x 31" Binns & Berry Trident 1000 Lathe
Lathes
Entek / IRD Soft Bearing Balance Machine
37,000 lbs maximum capacity
Schenck Balancer
Hard Bearing Balance Machine
Call Steve Ferguson for more details or machine specifications: (513)583-1744

Coatings & Painting

Alaron maintains facilities and equipment to perform surface preparation and protective coating application in a fixed shop facility. You can do all the work or Alaron can perform the coating activities to your specifications. Alaron's fixed shop includes a surface cleaning / preparation area, a large abrasive blasting containment, and a large enviro-control paint booth. We have audited and certified 3rd party inspectors available. Our facilities, licenses, and experience with hazardous and radioactive material make Alaron attractive to those seeking specialized protective coatings on new or contaminated material and equipment.

Alaron maintains a Nuclear Service Level I coating program which meets ANSI, NACE, SSPC, and ASTM standards. Our quality program mets the intent of NQA-1, 10CFR50 Appendix B, and DOE Order 414.1A. Alaron also accepts 10CFR21 reporting requirements.

Special Projects

Alaron’s service capabilities are flexible enough that we may be able to work with you on other Special Projects or services that may not be listed here. Please contact us with your questions, special problems or ideas that you may have.

Radioactive Wastes Managed

Radioactive compounds (e.g., uranium acetate, thorium nitrate)
Dry active waste
Sealed sources
Scintillation vials and fluid
Lab pack quantities of radioactive and mixed wastes
Metals – large components
Sludge and wet waste
Solvents
Corrosive materials
Aqueous liquids
Resins
Biological waste
Soils
Contaminated lead, metals, and equipment
Manufacturer returns

Customized Services

A broad range of services are offered, which include allowing your NRC-licensed company to perform work with contaminated equipment at Veolia’s Alaron facility. All services to help safely handle, transport, decontaminate or store low-level radioactive waste can be customized to fit your company’s unique needs.

Veolia Environmental Services maintains a proven record of compliance with health, safety and environmental regulations.

Veolia helps you:

Track your organization’s regulatory compliance via our Customer Information Management Solutions (CIMS)
Ensure that the handling, transport, recycling, reuse and disposal of all waste products meets state and federal regulations
Protect against liability

Low-level radiation compliance:

Veolia will respond in accordance with all appropriate federal agency requirements and recognizes that each state may have additional regulations, procedures and requirements.
We will assist in obtaining all necessary permits and coordinate approvals with the appropriate regulatory agencies.
Our technicians are trained beyond federal and state requirements to assure compliance with all phases of hazardous materials handling and management.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses all facilities that process radioactive waste under the Atomic Energy Act.
Every Emergency Response employee is enrolled in a Radiological Monitoring Program to ensure their own safety on the job and the safety of others.

Alaron Facility, Wampum PA

The facility, located 40 miles north of Pittsburgh, includes 26 acres and has over 150,000 square feet of indoor processing areas. Alaron's NRC Licenses allows for the processing, decontamination, storage, packaging, and handling of radioactive material and equipment.

For more information about the Alaron Corporation, a subsidiary of Veolia, visit the Alaron website.

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