High-level radioactive waste management at the Savannah River site

The Savannah River site (SRS) has been operating a nuclear fuel cycle since the early 1950s. Fuel and target elements are fabricated and irradiated to produce nuclear materials. After removal from the reactors, the fuel elements are processed to extract the products, and the waste is stored in underground tanks. During the >35 yr of operation, ∼83 million gal of waste have been generated. This waste has been reduced to ∼35 million gal by evaporation in the waste tank farms. The U.S. Department of Energy has built and will operate a facility to vitrify this high-level radioactive waste. The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) will solidify existing and future radioactive wastes by immobilizing the wastes in durable borosilicate glass contained in stainless steel canisters. The canisters will be sealed, decontaminated, and stored prior to emplacement in a federal repository. The paper discussed process description, process demonstrations, product qualification, and project status