Engineering Separations Unit Operations for Nuclear Processing

Dr. Reid Peterson joined PNNL in 2004. He is the Team Lead for the Radiochemical Science team in the Radiochemical Processes Laboratory at PNNL. This team focuses primarily on separations and characterization of radiochemical processes of interest to DOE Environmental Management, DOE Nuclear Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) clients. In addition, Dr. Peterson serves as the Program manager for the Waste Treatment Project Support Program. This program hosts all PNNL projects supporting the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, encompassing over 16 years of active research. Dr. Peterson also serves as a lead for the Nuclear Process Science Initiative. Dr. Peterson has worked largely in the field of waste processing for treatment of high-level waste. He has an extensive background in managing large research programs and experience in taking projects from inception to pilot-scale proof of concept. Through his experiences at PNNL, the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Dr. Peterson has developed working relationships with key staff across the National Lab complex, including Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and SRNL, as well as the site contractors for waste processing at both the Savannah River Site and Hanford. Dr. Peterson leads research teams in the areas of separation processes for nuclear applications. His current focus areas include dissolution reaction, cesium removal technologies, and solid/liquid separation techniques. Dr. Peterson has more than 120 technical reports and 32 peer review publications. He holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University and a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

1. Overview of Process Flowsheets. 2. Dissolution Processes for Treatment of Post Reactor Materials. 3. Adsorption Processes for Treatment of Off Gas from Nuclear Materials Processing. 4. Historical and Current Perspective on Precipitation Processes for Nuclear Materials Processing. 5. Solvent Extraction Processes – The Backbone of Nuclear Materials Processing. 6. Filtration. 7. Ion Exchange. 8. Future Developments in Separations Processes