Present Status of the U. S. Program on the
Solidification of High Level Wastes
ALBERT G. BLASEWITZ, Manager
KENNETH J. SCHNEIDER, Research Associate
Engineering Demonstration Section
Battelle Memorial Institute
Pacific Northwest Laboratory
Richland, Washington
INTRODUCTION
The conversion of high-level liquid wastes to solids as a pretreatment for
storage is being developed in laboratories of nearly all countries with significantly
near-future nuclear energy. Solidification is being developed so widely because it is
the only practical and reasonably attainable technique for achieving a substantial
increase in the safety associated with the storing and disposal of the high-level waste
from the nuclear power industry.
Four processes for solidification of these wastes have been developed in the U.
S. A., to the point of radioactive demonstration on an engineering scale. The four
processes are pot calcination, spray solidification, phosphate glass solidification, and
fluidized bed calcination.
The pot, spray, and phosphate glass processes have been demonstrated for the
AEC on a full-level, engineering-scale in the Waste Solidification Engineering
Prototypes (WSEP) by Battelle-Northwest at Richland, Washington, since November
1966. Demonstrations will be completed later in 1970. The fluidized bed process has
been demonstrated for the AEC in a large capacity plant in the Waste Calcining
Facility (WCF) by Idaho Nuclear Corporation at NRTS, operating on intermediate-
level wastes since 1963. Most of the development work is completed and most of the
basic technology has been obtained (1,2). The processes have been demonstrated to
be technically feasible and ready for commercial application.
Following an overall review of the management and long-term disposition of
high level liquid wastes (3,4), the Atomic Energy Commission published a proposed
statement of policy in the June 3, 1969 Federal Register. The proposed policy would
require the following actions in regard to high-level waste management: 1) a
commercial fuel reprocessing plant's inventory of high-level liquid radioactive waste
will be limited to the quantity produced in the prior five yr and high-level liquid
radioactive wastes in excess of the authorized inventory must be converted to an
AEC-approved solid form; and 2) all high-level radioactive wastes must be transferred
in the approved solid form to a Federal repository as soon as practicable, but in no
event later than 10 yr following separation of the fission products from the irradiated
fuel. It is anticipated that this requirement to solidify the high-level liquid waste
prior to its shipment to a Federal repository will be formalized in the near future.
The cost of high-level waste management involving solidification in combination with interim liquid storage, interim solid storage, and transportation to final
-141-