Fiscal year 1997 final report for task plan SR-16WT-31 task B, vitrification of ion exchange material

Abstract

In Fiscal Year 1997, the Department of Energy Tanks Focus Area (TFA) funded the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) to develop and demonstrate the vitrification of a CST ion exchange material loaded with radioactive cesium from one of the Melton Valley Storage Tanks at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). SRTC developed a patent-pending glass formulation that can be used to vitrify CST sorbent producing a quality borosilicate glass waste form. SRTC demonstrated this formulation by vitrifying the radioactive CST in the SRTC shielded cells melter.In addition to the formulation developed for vitrification of the `CST-only` glass waste form, SRTC also developed formulations for vitrification of CST coupled with High-Level Waste (HLW) sludges. A Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) coupled feed formulation has been developed with up to 10 weight percent CST and 28 weight percent DWPF sludge oxides. A coupled Hanford formulation has also been developed for producing quality glass waste forms with up to 10 weight percent CST and 45 weight percent Hanford sludge oxides. The significant accomplishments of this project were then development of CST-only glass formulations incorporating up to 65 weight-percent CST, development of techniques for delivering a slurry or dry feed to a joule-heated melter, demonstration of a CST-only glass formulation in a continuous melter operation, demonstration of compliance with the Nevada Test Site (NTS) Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC), development of CST-sludge glass formulations incorporating up to 10 weight percent CST and 28 weight percent DWPF sludges oxides, demonstration of CST-sludge glass formulations using radioactive sludge and radioactive CST, development of CST-sludge glass formulations incorporating up to 10 weight percent CST and 45 weight percent. All commitments made to the TFA have been met as indicated by the associated milestones. Milestones and the month in which they were completed: Initiate Immobilization of CST in Glass (completed 8/97); Demonstrate that Sludge-CST Glass Satisfied PC Specs in WAPS (completed 9/97); Determine Process Parameters of Sludge-CST Glass (completed 8/97); Demonstrate that CST-Only Glass Satisfied PC Specs in WAPS (completed 9/97); Determine Process Parameters of CST-Only Glass (completed 9/97). The results for Task B of Task Plan SR-16WT-31 have been documented in reports that have been included as attachments. The following is a summary of the attachments from the CST vitrification project.