Compliance with the Nevada Test Site`s waste acceptance criteria for vitrified cesium-loaded crystalline silicotitanates

Abstract

As part of a joint project between the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC), Cs-137 loaded crystalline silicotitanate (CST) sorbent will be vitrified in a joule-heated melter. Glass formulation development for this CST sorbent is discussed in an accompanying abstract for this conference. One of the objectives for this project was to ensure that the vitrified waste form could be disposed of at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). To accomplish this objective, the waste form must meet the NTS Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC). This paper presents SRTC`s efforts at ensuring that the glass waste form produced as a result of vitrification of CST will meet all of the criteria of the WAC. The producer must demonstrate that the waste is neither TRU nor mixed, and that the glass has a radionuclide content which is less than the Class C limit of 4,600 Ci/m{sup 3}. The impact of this requirement on the CST loading in the glass is discussed along with the benefits to the producer which result if greater than Class C waste is accepted by NTS since this limit may be relaxed in the near future. This paper demonstrates that vitrification leads to a waste form which meets all of the criteria of the NTS WAC

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