[ RadSafe ] E&P NORM remediation

[Jonkers, Gert G GSSIC-GSEA/4]

List members,

Recently for one of our customers we encountered NOR-contaminated sands near their operations. In a laboratory situation we were capable to show that these sands could fairly easily been cleaned by an "acidic" wash, thereby leaving NOR-free (that is NOR-concentrations substantially below exempt or unconditional release limits) sands and an about 5% volume-fraction containing virtually all NOR-contaminants. During experimentation it could be shown that the NOR-contaminants were associated with suspended particles. By simply decantation of the fluid phase with suspended particles and subsequent settling/filtration, the NOR-contaminated particles were separated from soil particles. This volume reduction (further optimisation may even be possible) would open up a range of NORM disposal options.

So far, the introduction. Here is my question. 
Is any one aware of NORM cleanup/remediation projects which more or less applied the separation technique described above in practice. If so, can you let me know, where such projects have been carried out (both hearsays, documented data or URL's are more than welcome). 
If the customer decides to embark on such a solution are there any firms around capable of carrying out such a project in practice?

Kind regards,
Gert Jonkers (GSEA/4)
EP NORM HSE Expertise
tel. +31 (0)20 630 3424
fax +31 (0)20 630 2911
e-mail: Gert.Jonkers at Shell.com
http://www.srtca.shell.com/tis/ASA/Nuclear/ionising.html