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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Overview - Defense Waste Processing Facility Operating Experience

Conference ·
OSTI ID:799329

The Savannah River Site's Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) near Aiken, SC is the world's largest radioactive waste vitrification facility. Radioactive operations began in March 1996 and over 1,000 canisters have been produced. This paper presents an overview of the DWPF process and a summary of recent facility operations and process improvements. These process improvements include efforts to extend the life of the DWPF melter, projects to increase facility throughput, initiatives to reduce the quantity of wastewater generated, improved remote decontamination capabilities, and improvements to remote canyon equipment to extend equipment life span. This paper also includes a review of a melt rate improvement program conducted by Savannah River Technology Center personnel. This program involved identifying the factors that impacted melt rate, conducting small scale testing of proposed process changes and developing a cost effective implementation plan

Research Organization:
Savannah River Site (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-96SR18500
OSTI ID:
799329
Report Number(s):
WSRC-MS-2002-00145
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English