Advanced volume reduction program for LLW at JAERI

The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has recently decided to adopt an advanced volume reduction program and started the construction of facilities, in which volume reduction techniques will be applied and achieved high volume reduction ratio and stabilization by means of melting or super compaction processes. It will be able to produce waste packages for final disposal and to reduce the amount of the wastes by operating the advanced volume reduction facilities. These facilities consist of Waste Size Reduction and Storage Facilities and Waste Volume Reduction Facilities; the former have cutting installations for large size wastes and the latter have melting units and a super compactor. The waste volume reduction will be carried out by a super compactor, a metal melting unit and a non-metal melting unit equipped plasma torch, and an annual processing capacity is around 10,000 drums of 200-liter size. The volume reduction ratio of waste is around 1/3 to 1/6. Molten metal is cast to receptacles for receiving molten slag from non-metal melting unit. Thus the amount of secondary wastes are reduced by utilizing the metallic wastes as receptacles. (authors)