VITRIFICATION 1998: A PROGRAM IN TRANSITION ACROSS THE DOE COMPLEX

摘要

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) high-level waste (HLW) vitrification programrnhas made significant transitions to new phases at all three facilities during the past year. ThernWest Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) has completed Phase I of their vitrificationrncampaign; the Savannah River Plant (Defense Waste Processing Facility, DWPF) continues itsrnsafe operations and is currently evaluating alternative methods of treatment for the salt feed at thernSavannah River Site and decisions have been made at Hanford for the next steps in thernprivatization of the treatment of HLW.rnSince June 1996, the WVDP has produced more than 230 canisters of glass, immobilizing morernthan 200 tons of HLW. The milestone for completing Phase I was met June 10, 1998, aboutrnthree weeks ahead of schedule. Expected production rates (about three canisters per week) andrnplant availability (about a 75% rate) were maintained through the end of the campaign. Withrnmore than 90% of the curies removed, the project is now designing state-of-the-art equipment forrnfinal clean-out of the waste tanks. Innovative technologies will be developed and used for finalrnHLW removal from the tanks.rnIn March 1996, DWPF became the first plant in the U. S. to vitrify HLW. After decades ofrnplanning and laboratory and pilot scale testing, the facility is now producing approximately threequartersrnof a canister of glass per day. New methodologies are being evaluated to replace the In-rnTank Precipitation (ITP) process for pretreating the salt feed to DWPF.rnAt Hanford, the Secretary has decided to privatize the pretreatment and immobilization of thernHigh Level Waste contained in the 177 tanks. In August 1998, BNFL, Inc. was awarded a twopartrncontract worth approximately $6.9 billion for the immobilization of about 10% of the mass,rnor 20-25% of the radioactivity in Hanford’s 54 million gallons of waste by 2018. The initial partrnof the project is a 24-month design phase that will result in private financing closure, regulatoryrnpermit applications, readiness to begin construction, final fixed-unit prices for treated waste, andrna firm schedule for cleanup to occur. The second part of the contract will provide for thernconstruction of the facilities, followed by treatment and immobilization of the waste contained inrnthe tanks at a fixed-price.rnWith the continued successful operation of two vitrification facilities and the successfulrnplacement of the contract for Hanford HLW, the DOE has taken several more important steps in