High-Level Waste Melter Review

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is faced with a massive cleanup task in resolving the legacy of environmental problems from years of manufacturing nuclear weapons. One of the major activities within this task is the treatment and disposal of the extremely large amount of high-level radioactive (HLW) waste stored at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. The current planning for the method of choice for accomplishing this task is to vitrify (glassify) this waste for disposal in a geologic repository. This paper describes the results of the DOE-chartered independent review of alternatives for solidification of Hanford HLW that could achieve major cost reductions with reasonable long-term risks, including recommendations on a path forward for advanced melter and waste form material research and development. The potential for improved cost performance was considered to depend largely on increased waste loading (fewer high-level waste canisters for disposal), higher throughput, or decreased vitrification facility size.