Design and construction innovations of the Defense Waste Processing Facility

摘要

Construction of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is essentially complete. The facility is designed to convert high level radioactive waste, now contained in large steel tanks as aqueous salts and sludge, into borosilicate glass which will solidify in stainless steel canisters. All processing of the radioactive material and operations in a radioactive environment will be done remotely. The stringent requirements dictated by remote operation and new approaches to the glassification process led to the development of a number of first-of-a-kind pieces of equipment, new construction fabrication and erection techniques, and new applications of old techniques. The design features and construction methods used in the vitrification building and its equipment were to accomplish the objective of providing a state-of-the-art vitrification facility. 3 refs., 10 figs.