Conceptual process for conversion of high level waste to glass

During a ten-year period highly radioactive wastes amounting to 22 million gallons of salt cake and 5 million gallons of wet sludge are to be converted to 1.2 million gallons of glass and 24 million gallons of decontaminated salt cake and placed in the new storage facilities which will provide high assurance of containment with minimal reliance on maintenance and surveillance. The glass will contain nearly all of the radioactivity in a form that is highly resistant to leaching and dispersion. The salt cake will contain a small amount of residual radioactivity. The process is shown in Figure 1 and the facilities may be arranged in seven modules to accomplish seven tasks, (1) remove wastes from tanks, (2) separate sludge and salt, (3) decontaminate salt, (4) solidify and package sludge and 137Cs, (5) solidify and package decontaminated salt, (6) store high level waste, and (7) store decontaminated salt cake