A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE HIGH-LEVEL WASTE PLANT AT THE WEST VALLEY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) vitrification melter was shut down in September 2002 after being used to vitrify High Level Waste (HLW) and process system residuals for six years. Processing of the HLW occurred from June 1996 through November 2001, followed by a program to flush the remaining HLW through to the melter. Glass removal and shutdown followed. The facility and process equipment is currently in a standby mode awaiting deactivation. During HLW processing operations, nearly 24 million curies of radioactive material were vitrified into 275 canisters of HLW glass. At least 99.7% of the curies in the HLW tanks at the WVDP were vitrified using the melter. Each canister of HLW holds approximately 2000 kilograms of glass with an average contact dose rate of over 2600 rem per hour. After vitrification processing ended, two more cans were filled using the Evacuated Canister Process to empty the melter at shutdown. This history briefly summarizes the initial stages of process development and earlier WVDP experience in the design and operation of the vitrification systems, followed by a more detailed discussion of equipment availability and failure rates during six years of operation. Lessons learned operating a system that continued to function beyond design expectations also are highlighted.
- Research Organization:
- West Valley Nuclear Services (US); U.S. Department of Energy (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc. (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 825649
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2003 Symposium, Tucson, AZ (US), 02/23/2003--02/27/2003; Other Information: PBD: 27 Feb 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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