[en] A ''National Laboratory-University-Industrial'' three-way partnership has been established between the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Electro-Pyrolysis, Inc. (EPI) to develop graphite electrode DC arc technology for the treatment of buried wastes. This paper outlines the PNL-MIT-EPI program describing a series of engineering-scale DC arc furnace tests conducted in an EPI furnace at the Plasma Fusion Center at MIT, and a description of the second phase of this program involving the design, fabrication, and testing of a pilot-scale DC arc furnace. Included in this work is the development and implementation of diagnostics to evaluate and optimize high temperature thermal processes such as the DC arc technology