Re: Compactors for radioactive waste

["Jim F. Herrold" <HERROLD@UWYO.EDU>]

	We had a waste compactor designed and built for us as a senior design
project by a group of engineering students. The cost to us was just for the
materials and some labor, at about half what the things were going for
commercially. It's been operating for us with relatively few problems for a
couple years. The ram only gives us a 3-to-1 compaction ratio at best, but it
has already paid for itself in disposal cost savings.
	Incidentally, we ran some tests using various methods and compactor
disks and found that the best results came from compacting the waste and
leaving the ram down until the next time. The disks didn't really improve the
compaction ratio all that much - enough to cover the cost of the disks, maybe.
And the things are the devil to get out of the barrel if they go down crooked.

	Jim Herrold
	University of Wyoming