Vitrification of actinides contained in platinum alloy vessels

While the use of platinum and platinum alloys for melting glass has a history dating back hundreds of years, its use for vitrification of radioactive materials has developed only within the last few years. Platinum-rhodium alloy has recently been utilized for both the containment and heating of small quantities of actinide materials during the vitrification process. Small, platinum alloy, melter systems are planned for use at the Savannah River Site (SRS) to vitrify residual actinide materials. The primary example is the SRS program to vitrify the contents of F-canyon Tank 17.1. This tank contains the majority of americium (Am) and curium (Cm) in the DOE complex. Other actinides by be verified in the future and include uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu)