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Radioactive waste recovery
482
CURRENT TOPICS
[J. F. I.
Radioactive Waste Recovery.--Vast system now being tested in actual quantities of chemical waste contain- operation in Ottawa, Canada. ing radioactive cesium stored at the It is expected that the system will Atomic Energy Commission's Han- do much to reduce the time and cost ford plant near Richland, Wash., may of handling large volumes of mail by some day provide for the industrial- using electronic sorters. Present hand scale irradiation of foods, drugs, plas- sorting methods are rapidly becoming tics, rubber, chemicals and other impractical because mail volume is inmaterials. creasing faster than population growth. Burton F. Judson of General ElecThe first step in the system is to tric Company's Chemical Processing separate the mail to be automated department at the Hanford plant re- from the remainder of the mail. This ported on efforts to recover radio- is accomplished by utilizing stamps active cesium at the 1958 Nuclear Con- impregnated with fluorescent material. gress. General Electric has under- Letters so stamped are sent to an electaken studies of the possibility of use tronic printer, by which an operator of the cesium at the request of the codes the back of each envelope with AEC. a special code giving address informaThe studies now underway at Han- tion. Fluorescent ink is used for the ford are aimed at estimating the printed code. potential market for fission products From this point on, the coded mail as industrial irradiation sources and is sorted automatically on a conveyor developing the technology that will system controlled by an electronic permit the efficient recovery of cesium computer. The envelopes are routed from separations plant waste solu- to high speed electronic sorters, which tions, Judson said. sense the coded information and conShould a strong demand be foreseen vey the letters to the proper mail for the immediate future, an instal- containers. lation capable of producing large Once letters reach local delivery amounts of cesium-137 could be ac- areas the familiar mailman takes over. complished by converting existing but Dr. Levy estimated that automaunused facilities at a capital cost of tion equipment of this kind for large about $1,500,000. cities would probably cost in the At the present time the AEC is neighborhood of half a million dollars. marketing cesium at $10 per curie, the The system is by far the simplest so radiation equivalent of one gram of far devised, and is suitable for cities radium. Judson foresees a substan- with populations of 100,000 or more. tial reduction in the cost of this radioSpecial attention given to coding isotope if the large-scale plant is put techniques and error checking devices into operation. has reduced the possibilities of errors to a point where less than one letter Automatic Post Office.--Details of out of 10,000 will be misrouted. the world's first automated post office Codes have been chosen so that the were made public for the first time in system can eventually be used interthis country at the IRE Convention. nationally. The U. S. Post Office is The presentation, made by Dr. Mau- presently working on an electronic rice Levy, Technical Advisor to the mail sorting system which it is exCanadian Post Office, and his associ- pected would use a similar coding ates, covered an automated postal system.
CURRENT TOPICS
[J. F. I.
Radioactive Waste Recovery.--Vast system now being tested in actual quantities of chemical waste contain- operation in Ottawa, Canada. ing radioactive cesium stored at the It is expected that the system will Atomic Energy Commission's Han- do much to reduce the time and cost ford plant near Richland, Wash., may of handling large volumes of mail by some day provide for the industrial- using electronic sorters. Present hand scale irradiation of foods, drugs, plas- sorting methods are rapidly becoming tics, rubber, chemicals and other impractical because mail volume is inmaterials. creasing faster than population growth. Burton F. Judson of General ElecThe first step in the system is to tric Company's Chemical Processing separate the mail to be automated department at the Hanford plant re- from the remainder of the mail. This ported on efforts to recover radio- is accomplished by utilizing stamps active cesium at the 1958 Nuclear Con- impregnated with fluorescent material. gress. General Electric has under- Letters so stamped are sent to an electaken studies of the possibility of use tronic printer, by which an operator of the cesium at the request of the codes the back of each envelope with AEC. a special code giving address informaThe studies now underway at Han- tion. Fluorescent ink is used for the ford are aimed at estimating the printed code. potential market for fission products From this point on, the coded mail as industrial irradiation sources and is sorted automatically on a conveyor developing the technology that will system controlled by an electronic permit the efficient recovery of cesium computer. The envelopes are routed from separations plant waste solu- to high speed electronic sorters, which tions, Judson said. sense the coded information and conShould a strong demand be foreseen vey the letters to the proper mail for the immediate future, an instal- containers. lation capable of producing large Once letters reach local delivery amounts of cesium-137 could be ac- areas the familiar mailman takes over. complished by converting existing but Dr. Levy estimated that automaunused facilities at a capital cost of tion equipment of this kind for large about $1,500,000. cities would probably cost in the At the present time the AEC is neighborhood of half a million dollars. marketing cesium at $10 per curie, the The system is by far the simplest so radiation equivalent of one gram of far devised, and is suitable for cities radium. Judson foresees a substan- with populations of 100,000 or more. tial reduction in the cost of this radioSpecial attention given to coding isotope if the large-scale plant is put techniques and error checking devices into operation. has reduced the possibilities of errors to a point where less than one letter Automatic Post Office.--Details of out of 10,000 will be misrouted. the world's first automated post office Codes have been chosen so that the were made public for the first time in system can eventually be used interthis country at the IRE Convention. nationally. The U. S. Post Office is The presentation, made by Dr. Mau- presently working on an electronic rice Levy, Technical Advisor to the mail sorting system which it is exCanadian Post Office, and his associ- pected would use a similar coding ates, covered an automated postal system.