ELENDES™ – Electrochemical Nuclear Decontamination

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Building on our vast experience in electrochemical processing of industrial effluents C-Tech Innovation collaborated with National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) to develop an electrochemical nuclear decontamination technology, ELENDES ™. Developed over 6 years this technology has undergone active trials at Sellafield and is proven to significantly increase the rate of nuclear decontamination of steel whilst significantly reducing the volume of waste effluent generated.

Cells and Pipework on test rig

Our Background

C-Tech Innovation has an extensive background in the development of electrochemical processes from laboratory to production scale. We have decades of experience in electrochemical processing of industrial effluents and have developed a variety of industrial electrochemical processes for water treatment. Over the past 6 years C-Tech has been working with NNL in conjunction with Sellafield to develop novel electrochemical processes to assist and improve current techniques used in the nuclear decontamination process at Sellafield.

Our Technology

ELENDES™: Decontamination of radioactive metals

Nitric acid is currently used as a ‘washing’ medium to decontaminate steelwork. Although effective this process is time consuming and generates large quantities of contaminated effluent that has to be treated. ELENDES™ facilitates the use of stronger acids and complexing agents in conjunction with nitric acid which speeds up the decontamination process. The net result is a saving in time and a significant reduction in the volume of waste to be treated.

ELENDES™: Destruction of organic waste

C-Tech have developed a further application of the ELENDES™ technology for the electrochemical oxidation of insoluble organic material. This treatment means that radioactively contaminated solutions that contain organic matter can be treated and made suitable for conventional downstream effluent treatment. The ELENDES™ system is able oxidise a range of organic materials including solids and liquids.

Our Markets

  • Decontamination of radioactively contaminated metals
  • Decontamination of radioactively contaminated solutions containing organic matter

Read about our collaboration with the team at NNL and see how our ELENDES technology was used to develop a way of recycling nuclear fuel.

Learn More

Our Electrochemical technology in nuclear material processing

View case study about our ELENDES process for destruction of organic materials using an electrochemically generated silver (II) oxidant.

CASE STUDY

Watch Our Video On The Implementation of Electrochemical Technologies In The Nuclear Industry.

With Dr Robert Bell

ELENDES test rig at C-Tech Innovation

Our Goal

To offer the nuclear industry a suite of electrochemical solutions that address current and future issues for nuclear decontamination. C-Tech are developing equipment which works alongside existing effluent treatment plants to give a faster decontamination process. The net result is a significant reduction in the remaining waste effluent that needs to be treated and the overall cost.

Our Advantage

Lower cost downstream waste processing

The addition of stronger acids and complexing agents allows faster and more effective nuclear decontamination. This results in a significant reduction in waste effluent to be treated.

High current efficiencies and destruction rates

Our electrochemical cell design gives high current efficiencies and electrochemical oxidation of organic matter to very low concentrations.

Scalable

Each of our solutions are modular by design so that they can be deployed in a variety of different environments.

Treating isolated and inaccessible plant

Our technology can treat isolated or otherwise inaccessible plant, removing the reliance on centralised infrastructure.

Check out this overview and demonstration of our ELENDES™ joint project!

ELENDES™ joint project!

Our ELENDES™ technology is a Scientific breakthrough for nuclear decontamination technology

Learn how our ELENDES™ technology can be adopted to your Nuclear Decommissioning Process.

Speak To Our Experts