Which technique is known for being expensive and energy-intensive in treating long half-life liquid wastes?

Evaporation is recognized for being an expensive and energy-intensive technique when it comes to treating long half-life liquid wastes. This process involves heating the liquid waste to separate the water content, often requiring significant energy input to maintain the necessary temperatures over prolonged periods. The energy demand is particularly high because the process needs to ensure that a large volume of liquid is processed to achieve a manageable waste stream, which can be challenging when dealing with highly radioactive materials that have long half-lives.

In practices involving long half-life liquid wastes, evaporation can result in financial burdens due to the operational costs associated with maintaining the required systems and equipment, as well as safety measures that must be in place to handle radioactive waste. Therefore, when considering various techniques for waste processing, evaporation stands out for its significant resource consumption in both monetary and energy terms.