The liquid waste management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is preparing to replace a melter in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), DOE said in a press release Friday.
A Melter 2 heater stopped functioning on Feb. 1 and cannot be repaired, the release says. Savannah River Remediation is expected to need about six months to install the replacement system, Melter 3.
As the name indicates, Melter 2 was the second melter used at the DWPF, which converts highly radioactive waste stored at the South Carolina facility into a solid glass form for storage. Melter 2 functioned for close to 14 years, 12 years longer than designed, thanks to a combination of science and engineering efforts.
Melter 1 provided roughly six years of radioactive operations during the DWPF’s two decades of operations to date, preceded by two years of “non-radioactive simulant processing,” according to the release.
“Melter 2 has poured 2,819 canisters during its life, more than double what Melter 1 produced in its life span, which was 1,339 canisters,” DOE said. “Melter 1 was placed into radioactive operation in March 1996, following approximately two years of non-radioactive simulant operations. Melter 2 began operating in 2003. Together, Melters 1 and 2 have poured 4,158 canisters through January 31, 2017. The predicted number of canisters needed to dispose of SRS’ high-level tank waste is 8,170.”
In total, the facility has solidified approximately 61 million curies of radioactivity and poured over 16 million pounds of glass. It is expected to remain in use for another 20 years.
Savannah River Remediation always keeps one melter on hand in the event that the operational melter ceases functioning. The cost of installing the new melter was not immediately available.
