Laboratory studies in support of the West Valley sludge mobilization wash

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:7194760

Fauth, D J; Michnik, L E; Palmer, R A; Hara, F T; Kazmierczak, T F ^[1]

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1. West Valley Nuclear Services Co., NY (United States)

The vitrification of the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) high-level waste (HLW) requires the removal of substantial amounts of sulfate. The solubility of sulfate in the glass produced in the existing flow sheet using a slurry-fed ceramic melter is 0.3 wt%. Any sulfate above this level would form a molten salt layer on the surface of the melt. This layer would interfere with the melting process and result in an unacceptable borosilicate glass. The amount of sludge that could be put in the glass would be much less than planned, and the number of glass canisters necessary for solidifying the WVDP HLW would be substantially increased. Laboratory studies were recently performed to determine an acceptable flow sheet and operational parameters for the sulfate removal. Three technologies that meet the WVDP requirements were identified and tested in the laboratory to reduce the concentration of plutonium and uranium in the wash water. At this time, experimental results strongly indicate that the technologies can be implemented successfully at the WVDP. Current information also suggests that there should be no significant delay in solidifying the HLW as a result of using these methods.

• OSTI ID: 7194760
• Report Number(s): CONF-920606--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 65
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BOROSILICATE GLASS
CERAMIC MELTERS
CESIUM
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
ECONOMICS
ELECTRIC FURNACES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
FUELS
FURNACES
GLASS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
ION EXCHANGE
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MELTING
METALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR FUELS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PH VALUE
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PLUTONIUM RECYCLE
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTOR MATERIALS
REMOVAL
REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SLUDGES
SPENT FUELS
STORAGE
STRONTIUM
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TITANIUM
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
UNDERGROUND STORAGE
URANIUM RECYCLE
VITRIFICATION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE RETRIEVAL
WASTES
WEST VALLEY PROCESSING PLANT