Ten years of vitrification in La Hague's R7/T7 from R and D to production
- Cogema, 1 rue des Herons, 78181 St Quentin en Yvelines (France)
- Cogema, Etablissement de La Hague, 50444 Beaumont Hague (France)
- CEA/Valhro, B.P. 171, 30207 Bagnols sur Ceze (France)
Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels is the industrial operation through which valuable materials - uranium and plutonium - are sorted out prior to their reuse in fresh fuels. High level waste, i.e., fission products and actinides are separated and incorporated in glass matrix in order to be safely stored and disposed of. After an easy start-up and 10 years of operation, there has been 6,765 glass canisters produced in La Hague - La Hague's vitrification facilities are in line with the plant's annual throughput of 1,600 tons per year. Overall French glass canisters production reaches 9,500. Teething problems as melting pot lifetime, are solved. Flexibility is also a constant priority as shown by the implementation of new liquid waste management, which has reduced releases. It is then possible to claim that the technology is mature and mastered. The glass product is well adapted; the returns of glass residues are soon due to reach a routine level. In France, the efforts are now borne on the final disposal project that should be ready for discussion in 2006. However, developments on vitrification have not stopped and there is an emerging and promising technology, already in use in the non nuclear field, that will have flexibility to adapt to complex feed streams: this technology is the cold crucible. Pilot tests are conclusive on this matter.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 23142126
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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