Formulation of Specialty Glass Frit and Its Use for Decontamination of Joule Melter Employed for Vitrification of High Level Radioactive Liquid Waste

Advanced vitrification system at TWMP Tarapur was used for successful vitrification of large volume of high level radioactive liquid waste (HLW) stored in PREFRE waste tank farm. After completion of the operational life of the Joule melter, dismantling was planned. Prior to dismantling, the holdup inventory of active glass product from the melter was flushed out using specially formulated inactive glass frit to reduce the air activity buildup in the cell during dismantling operations. The properties of the specialty glass frit prepared were comparable with those of the regular product glass. More than 94% of holdup activity was flushed out from the Joule melter prior to dismantling of the melter.