DFLAW Glass and Feed Qualifications for AP-107 to Support WTP Start-Up and Flow-Sheet Development (VSL-18R4500-1, Rev 0)
- The Catholic Univ. of America, Washington, DC (United States)
- Atkins Energy Federal EPC, Inc., Columbia, MD (United States)
About 50 million gallons of high-level mixed waste is currently stored in underground tanks at The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Hanford site in the State of Washington. The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) will provide DOE’s Office of River Protection (ORP) with a means of treating this waste by vitrification for subsequent disposal. The tank waste will be separated into low- and high-activity waste fractions, which will then be vitrified respectively into Immobilized Low Activity Waste (ILAW) and Immobilized High Level Waste (IHLW) products. The ILAW product will be disposed in an engineered facility on the Hanford site while the IHLW product is designed for acceptance into the national deep geological disposal facility for high-level nuclear waste. The ILAW and IHLW products must meet a variety of requirements with respect to protection of the environment before they can be accepted for disposal. The Low Activity Waste (LAW) at Hanford will be vitrified in a Joule Heated Ceramic Melter (JHCM) to produce a stable product for safe disposal. Although present in relatively small amounts, a few key constituents in the LAW streams play particularly important roles. Sulfur, chlorine, and fluorine can have significant impacts on LAW glass formulation and waste loadings, while technetium and iodine are important for waste form performance, with technetium being the constituent of most concern with respect to waste disposal in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). The IDF is designed to accept ILAW, secondary waste associated with ILAW production, and other on-site Hanford Non-Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) waste. As a result of volatilization of these species during the vitrification process, they are also present in significant amounts in the liquid effluents from the off-gas treatment system. Understanding the fraction of each constituent incorporated in the LAW glass or in WTP liquid effluents is critical for assessing the performance of waste forms to be disposed in the IDF. Liquid effluents from the LAW vitrification process that are not recycled will likely be solidified to produce a secondary waste form that is not as chemically durable as glass. Therefore, understanding partitioning of the key constituents between the glass and non-glass waste forms is a significant factor in the Performance Assessment (PA) for the Hanford IDF. Clearly, it is preferable to incorporate as much of the technetium into the glass as possible because of the superior chemical durability of that waste form. The objective of the present work is to improve the understanding of the partitioning of technetium and other key waste constituents between the glass and non-glass waste forms.
- Research Organization:
- Hanford Site (HNF), Richland, WA (United States); USDOE Office of River Protection (ORP), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC27-01RV14136
- OSTI ID:
- 1845088
- Report Number(s):
- ORP-67601-00; TRN: US2302850
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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