Vitrification of SRP Waste by a Slurry-fed Ceramic Melter

Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) is testing the slurry feeding of a ceramic melter as a possible method to vitrify its high-level radioactive waste. Feeding a liquid slurry requires simpler and less expensive equipment than feeding a powdered calcine. Experiments have progressed from manual feeding, to a semiautomatic system, to the present slurry-feed system, which is completely automatic. All experiments to date indicate that slurry feeding is a promising way of vitrifying waste. No safety hazards associated with feeding the slurry onto molten glass at 1150 degrees Centigrade have been observed experimentally, even when the melter chamber was purposely flooded.