Project of Decommissioning and Contaminated Water Management(Research and Development of Processing and Disposal of Solid Waste)
The Holistic Evaluation of Applicability of
GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste
Fiscal Year 2019-2020

November 2021

Kurion Japan K.K . / Veolia Nuclear Solutions INC.
NUCLEAR SOLUTIONS – KURION JAPAN1

Table of Contents
１．Introduction ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ ３
２．The scope of the FY2019 – 2020 Project ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・８
３．Engineering Scale Melt Test・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・１０
４．Basic Experiments and Modelling (1) (Glass Science)・・ ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・３８
５．Basic Experiments and Modelling (2)(Elucidation of mechanism that suppresses volatilization of Cs.) ・・・・・・・・・・・４７
６．GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD)・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・４９
７．Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ ６３
８．Summary ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ ・・・・・・・・・８２

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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1. Introduction: Purpose of the Project• The Mid-and-Long-Term Roadmap states that 1F solid waste should be stored and managed safely andrationally according to its characteristics, and a system should be established to reasonably choose thepreceding processing (processing methods for stabilization and immobilization, which will be performed
considering disposal prior to the decision of technical requirements for disposal) methods.
• As a Subsidy Project following GeoMelt research results (*) in FY2017 and FY2018 of the IRID programthat Kurion Japan received an order from ATOX, “Comprehensive Evaluation on Applicability of GeoMelt®
In-Container Vitrification (ICV) ™ for 1F Water treatment Secondary Waste processing” the FY 2019-FY2020
project aimed to the following:① As a research and development test, verify the excellent cesium retention results of glass from theengineering-scale test of GeoMelt® ICV™ on major waste simulant at 1F in 2018 and improve cesium retention
performance with a focus on engineering-scale test process optimization and equipment modifications.
② Based on the results of these R & D tests, conduct a preliminary conceptual design and individual
evaluations to carry out the comprehensive evaluation of applicability of GeoMelt® ICV™ at 1F③ Enhance and enlarge the database of the glass for waste treatment. Evaluate with modeling the effectof compositional variation of waste and melt temperature on the waste loading.

④ Study the suppression of Cs volatilization of Cs with the lab-scale experiments and simulation.
(*) ：Survey on applicability evaluation of in-drum type vitrification technology in Subsidy for decommissioning /contaminated water countermeasures in FY2018 supplementary budget (research and development on processing /disposal of solid waste). Engineering-scale Melt Test 1 -3 were performed in this project (IRID Program, METI
Subsidy Project)
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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1. Introduction：Implementation Structure
Subsidiary Project Organization• Project management, technical supervision, report writing• Cooperation / coordination with MRI / NDF / TEPCO

Veolia Nuclear Solutions Inc.

Kurion Japan K.K.

Marc ROOD: Sub Project Manager

Sadaaki ABETA: Project Manager

Tokyo Institute ofTechnology(Consignment)

KK Techno(Consignment)
Nuclear Safety Research
Association(Outsourcing andConsignment)

Daiei Kankyo
Holdings(Outsourcing)

Veolia Nuclear
Solutions Federal
Services• Technical expertise &testing/researching capability on
vitrification• Conduct research on Cs volatilization
suppression• Engineering knowhow andexperiences of nuclear plants inJapan• Conduct PCD review• Expertise on treatment & disposalof vitrified waste• Conduct glass performance
evaluation• Industrial experience of hazardous
waste treatment using GeoMelt®
ICV in Japan• Conduct a review on engineering
scale test
• Summarize reviews conducted by
PNNL(Outsourcing)

Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory• Review a research result
report of Tokyo Institute ofTechnology

Veolia Nuclear
Solutions
Federal Services（Outsourcing)• Expertise on GeoMelt® ICV™
• Conduct engineering scale tests, etc.
• Engineering knowhow and industrial
experience in hazardous and nuclear
waste treatment worldwide

Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory
CleanAirEngineering Inc.

• Conduct glass formulation
and analysis• Conduct emission
measurement andatmospheric environment
management

ALS USA• Analyze glass samples

Monarch Machine
and Tool• Test equipment piping andsupport work

Techweigh Technics
Industries• Deliver supply containers
and weighing equipment

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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1. Introduction: History of the development of GeoMelt ICV••••

GeoMelt was the technology of vitrification of hazardous waste such as radioactive waste to stable glass. This
technology invented at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Commercially available since 1993.
GeoMelt was used initially for treatment of buried radioactive and hazardous wastes as In-Situ Vitrification
GeoMeltISV.
GeoMeltICV was invented for the treatment of above-ground radioactive and hazardous wastes.
Over 26,000 metric tons of waste have been treated to-date with GeoMeltICV.
GeoMelt ICV is used in Japanfor treatment of hazardous wastes

GeoMelt ICV  Daieikankyou Hazardous
Waste Treatment Plant 10 tons Melt, Japan

GeoMelt ISV  Maralinga Nuclear Test Range:
500 tons Melts, Australia

GeoMelt is a proventechnology with fullscale plants inoperations in Japan andthe U.S.

GeoMelt ICV  Radioactive Test Rig
Sellafield Site: 500 kg Melts, U.K.

GeoMelt ICV  Hanford Demonstration Bulk
Vitrification System (DBVS): 50 ton Melts, USA

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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1. Introduction: Characteristics of GeoMelt ICV（1/2）① Glass melting and vitrification in the container(hereinafter, see figure right)
It is a technology that supplies waste to a container, melts itby the Joule heating method, and vitrifies it as it is
without pouring glass down.
Refractory sand
② The melting container and waste are identical
It is a simple batch process without pouring glass down
and the melting container for melting treatment
Vitrified glass
itself becomes the waste form for disposal.
(Replace the melting container for each batch)③ Structure of melting container

IR camera

Electrode

Steel container
Refractory
container

GeoMelt ICV melting container
It features a structure in which a refractory container to store
vitrified glass is placed, refractory sand as heat insulation are placed on the outside and a steel container isinstalled on the outermost side.
④ Reducing the effect of melting on the refractory container

Compared to melters being used continuously for a long period of time with repeated, the refractory container isless corroded and melting at a higher temperature is possible due to batch processing.
⑤ High waste loading is possible
Since the viscosity can be increased because of no need of pouring glass down, the amount of glass additives tolower the glass viscosity can be reduced. Therefore, the waste loading can be increased accordingly.
⑥ High viscosity and high temperature melting, and co-treatment with zeolite
Since the viscosity can be increased, melting can be performed at a high temperature, so that the zeolite and thetitanate adsorbents at 1F can be melted at a high temperature. In addition, zeolite can be used as a glass former
required for vitrification of waste, and the waste loading of the glass can be improved by co-treating zeolite waste.
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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1. Introduction: Characteristics of GeoMelt ICV（2/2)⑦ Suppression of volatile Cs emission by the cold cap management (see figure below)
・After the inside of the container is filled with waste to the top, melting is continued. The intermittent
operation to feed additional waste is continued when the container has enough free space for the waste
supply due to the volume reduction of waste. The emission of volatile Cs to the off-gas system is suppressedby constantly managing the un-melted waste layer on molten glass (the layer of low temperature on molten
glass is referred as “cold cap”) to keep its maximum thickness (cold cap management) in this operation .
It is presumed that this is because Cs volatilized from the waste including the molten glass is trapped bycondensing into the cold cap particles at the upper part where the temperature is low, then descends withthe waste supply and is incorporated into the molten glass.
・Since the cold cap becomes thin at the final stage of melting, clean glass frit (top-off frit: TOF) is added ascold cap and Cs volatilized from the finally fed waste is condensed and captured by TOF. Ultimately, themelted TOF covers the waste glass and suppresses the Cs emission to the off-gas system.
⑧ Wide range of container size
The melting scale can be selectedby an economical evaluationaccording to the treating needs.
Containers have a track record of
250 kg (engineering scale) up to
50 tons.

TOF feedingColdcap(waste)Moltenglass

GeoMelt ICV cold cap management

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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2. The Scope of FY2019-2020 Project （1/2）
Engineering scale melt test (conducted by VNSFS)●●●

Glass melt test for simulated waste of 1F water treatment secondary
waste (including 1F simulated soil) (Melt tests 4-8 conducted)
Demonstration of melting operations (including cold cap management),
demonstration of remote re-start of melting after emergency stop of
melting
Measurement of the transferred amount of Cs and Sr to off-gas in theglass melting treatment, evaluation of Cs and Sr retention rate invitrified waste form

Basic experiments and modeling (1)(Glass science: conducted by PNNL）●●●

GeoMelt ICV engineering scale Melt test equipment

Enhance and enlarge of the 1F water treatment glass database forsecondary waste treatment (analysis of glass composition, crucible test,
detailed analysis of generated glass)
Evaluation of the effect of glass composition (type and amount of waste
contained) on glass performance, performance evaluation of low melting
temperature glass (analysis by glass modeling) ）Detailed analysis of glass sample, leaching test (MCC-1 test)

SEM-EDS of alteration layer ofengineering scale molten glass

Basic experiments and modeling (2)(Elucidation of mechanism that suppresses volatilization of Cs:
conducted by Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Crucible test, analysis by a computer simulation model for elucidationof the mechanism of suppressing Cs volatilization in the cold cap

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Molten glass in aquartz beaker removed
after heating8

2. The scope of the FY2019 – 2020 Project (2/2)
GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary-Conceptual Design (PCD) and Assessments
Examination of the plant to treat and vitrify 1F water
treatment secondary waste by GeoMelt ICVTM
technology.
● Making full use of the results of the engineering-scale
melt tests, the basic experiments and modeling andthe experience of other GeoMelt ICVTM plants forthis examination.
● The GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary-Conceptual
Design (PCD), as the design of the stage prior toconceptual design, providing “big picture” or macro
design of the plant, being based on the examination ofprocess, equipment and piping, plant layout andprocess/system such as waste handling, etc.
● Assessments of the plant from the six viewpoints
described below:Operability and Maintainability Assessment
Product Package Assessment

Economic Efficiency Assessment
Safety Assessment

Evaluation of Waste Retrieval and Materials
Handling Systems
Glass Performance Assessment (Containment
function)●

Bird’s-eye view of inside of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

93. Engineering Scale Melt Test （1/28）： Overall overview
Conducted 5 engineering scale melt test (Melt 4-8 *)①Test target: hereinafter, "A + B" is referred to as simulated waste, and "A + B+ C" is referred to as test materials.
・A: Materials that simulate KUR-EH, KUR-TSG, ALPS slurry **, and AREVA sludge
among 1F water treatment secondary wastes
・B: Aluminosilicate mineral-based waste (zeolite such as KUR-EH) can be used
as a glass former necessary for the treatment of other water treatment
secondary wastes in GeoMelt ICV.
・C: Glass additives (B2O3, LiCO3, etc.) to reduce viscosity, improve durability andincrease solubility are added, and the materials to be tested are blended.
・ This blending ratio corresponds to the glass composition confirmed by the
crucible test, which was analyzed and set by PNNL.
② Test purpose:
・ Demonstration of reliable melting process (Melter operation): Understanding
the melting state by measuring the melting temperature, observing the cold
cap state of the upper surface of the Melter with a camera, realization of cold
cap management by accurate implementation of additional waste supply andtop-off frit supply.
・ Demonstration of remote melting re-start method after melting stops
・ Demonstration of high Cs retention rate: Achieving a higher and more stableretention rate compared to the results of the FY2018 Melt 1-3 (90% or more,
but the variation between tests is large). Understanding the effects of thefollowing factors on the Cs retention rate in addition to reliable cold cap
management.
Decrease in melt surface area / volume ratio
Difference between 4-electrode and 2-electrode Melter(the latter has a smaller melt surface area) 、
Difference in melting start method (top-down, bottom-up)
Water content of test material* Test numbers continue from three engineering scale melt tests which were
performed in FY2017 – 2018 project.
Simulated wastes used in melt tests 5 – 7 are identical with the simulated
wastes used in melt tests 1-3③ Acquired data, etc.:
・ The Cs retention rate is obtained by calculating the transferred
amount of Cs to off-gas by stack sampling and analysis of wiped
samples such as off-gas piping after the test is completed.
・ The homogeneity of the glass is confirmed by SEM-EDS analysisof glass samples.
・ Detailed analysis (observation of secondary phase, etc.) andlong-term leaching test for the glass sample by PNNL.
List of implementation contents of engineering scale melt test

Test*

Melter /Melting
start method

PurposeSimulated waste

・Demonstration of
4-electrodeMelter melting operation
KUR-EH＋TSG
Melt 4Top-down
・Ensuring achievementof high Cs retention rate

Melt 52-electrodeMelter(Same as above)
Bottom-up

KUR-EH＋ALPS Slurry

Melt 62-electrodeMelter(Same as above)
Bottom-up

KUR-EH＋TSG

Melt 72-electrodeMelter(Same as above)
Bottom-up

KUR-EH＋AREVA
Sludge・Confirming theapplicability of simulated
Simulated soil (based
2-electrodeMelter soil as a glass former
on 1F soil
Melt 8
Bottom-up
・Demonstration ofcomposition)
restart of melting after
melting has stopped** KUR-EH is Kurion’s Engineered Herschelite. Ion exchange of Cs-134 andCs-137 with zeolite material. KUR-TSG is Kurion‘s granular titanosilicate.
Ion exchange of Sr-90 with silico titanate material. ALPS slurry is acarbonate and iron coprecipitated slurry, which is an adsorbent used for
multi-nuclide removal.

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (2/28):
Preparation of Waste Simulants and Tracers

The mass of Cs to be used for each melt was calculated from the average activity of Cs-137 in KUR-EH ion exchange
vessels at 1F.
● 150 g of CsCl was dissolved in 320 L of water.
● 168 kg of KUR-EH* was added to the water● The KUR-EH and water was mixed with a rotary drum mixer.
● The water was sampled to verify that the Cs had absorbed onto the KUR-EH.
● The water was decanted, then the Cs-adsorbed KUR-EH was dried on a solar drying station.
● Once dry the KUR-EH was blended with the other 1F waste simulants (KUR-TSG**, ALPS Carbonate and Iron
Coprecipitation Slurries***, or AREVA Sludge, glass additives, water, and SrCO3.
● Once blended, the test materials were loaded into 5-gallon (19-L) buckets.
● Each bucket was sampled for laboratory analysis of bulk and trace (Cs, Sr) chemistry.
●* KUR-EH is Kurion Engineered Herschelite. This is azeolite material for ion exchange of Cs-134 & Cs-137
from 1F water. This is blended as glass former** KUR-TSG is Kurion Titanosilicate
Granular. This is a silicotitanate material
for ion exchange of Sr-90 from 1F water.
)

Solar Drying Station
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste*** ALPS Carbonate and Iron Coprecipitation
Slurries are waste sorbent materials used at 1F
for multi-nuclide removal.

Rotary Drum Mixer
11

3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (3/28): Melt 4Melt 4 Objectives

Demonstration of top-down melt startup.
● Improvement of Cs retention from previous
Melt 2 with the same formulation.

Melt 4 Recipe.

●

Melt 4 Results

Component
KUR-EH is Kurion Engineered Herschelite.
This is a zeolite material for ion exchange of
Cs-134 & Cs-137 from 1F water.

KUR-TSG is Kurion Titanosilicate Granular.
This is a silicotitanate material for ion
exchange of Sr-90 from 1F water.

All materials introduced into the melter were
processed.
● The waste loading was 76.60% on a glass oxide basis. On a dry feed basis, thewaste loading was 77.44%● 99.44% Cs retention in glass. 99.99% Sr retention in glass.
●

Mass (kg)wt%

KUR-EH

134.0061.19

KUR-TSG

47.20

21.55

Glass additives

37.80

17.26

Subtotal

219.00100.0015% moisture
20.00 in KUR-EH; 9%water overall.
239.00Water
Total
Tracers:CsCl

150.00 g

SrCO3

165.00 g

Diagram of GeoMelt ICV Using a Top-Down Melt Startup from Start to Completion
4-Electrode Melter
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (4/28):
Melt 4 Infrared Camera View into the Melter
Melts are monitored continuously with an infrared camera (IR camera).
● As the waste simulant materials are melted densification causes volume reduction.
● When volume is available more waste simulant materials are fed into the melter.
● In last stage, the glass frit containing no waste simulant are fed to suppress the release of Cs● When all materials have been melted power is shut off and the glass cools.
●

Sequence of IR Images During Melt 4 （Blue framework indicates the situation after TOF feeding)
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (5/28):
Melt 4 Feed Rate and Melt Temperatures
The initial batch was 45 kg and 167 kg of materials were fed into the melter during operations. The test
material consists of waste simulant of KUR-EH + KUR-TSG + glass additives.
● Thermocouples are installed in the melt to monitor melt progress.
● Type K thermocouples were used for this melt and the maximum temperatures recorded was 1371 °C, which is
top of the Type K thermocouple range.
●

Melt thermocouples TI-103, TI-104,
TI-109 locations

Melt 4 Feed Rate

Thermocouple TI-109
failed 6 hours into themeltMelt 4 Temperatures

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Situation inside of the melterat the start of melting
14

3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (6/28): Melt 4 Cs and Sr Retention in Glass
Continuous isokinetic stack sampling determines mass of Cs and Sr leaving the melt.
Inner surfaces of the melter hood and off-gas piping were wipe-sampled to determine mass of Cs and Sr plated out before
continuous isokinetic stack sampling point. Refer to the next page for wipe sample locations.
Mass of emissions are added to mass of Cs and Sr plated off to determine output mass.
Input mass is the mass of Cs and Sr in the test feed.
There are two standard methods to account for loss of components from the melter to the off-gas: 1) retention in glass(vi) is thefraction of the ith component in the feed that is retained in glass and 2) decontamination factor (DFi) is the ratio of the ith
component’s input to output (in this case the output is from the melter through the off-gas). These two factors are related
according to:
Input mass of Cs and Sr is the average concentration of

•
•
•
•
•

𝑣 =1−

1
𝑥 100
𝐷𝐹

Where:
𝐷𝐹 =•𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠

Cs and Sr multiplied by the mass of the feed. Output
mass is calculated by multiplying emission rate by test
duration and adding this product to mass determinedfrom the first section of off-gas pipe (before thecontinuous stack sampling point), wipe sampling of thehood, and analysis of refractory sand and castrefractory. The mass of Cs and Sr in the second andthird section of off-gas piping, baghouse bags, andHEPA filter paper are not included in this calculation
because these are accounted for in the isokinetic stacksampling results.

The values used for the calculation for Melt 4 is shown below:

Lab analysis of feed
samplesContinuous
Isokinetic Stack
Sampling

Lab analysis of piping and hoodwipe, refractory sand, and castrefractory samples

Decontamination Factor is theratio of the input to output
mass of Cs, Sr

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Good retention in glass15

2. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (7/28): Melt 4 Cs and Sr Distribution•••

0.25 g of Cs and 0.05 g of Sr were detected in the melter hoodinterior, piping, and filters.
Essentially no Cs or Sr was detected in the refractory after subtract
the nature-origin Cs and Sr.
0.25 g of Cs equates to 99.70% retention in glass which agrees
well with the continuous isokinetic stack sampling results (99.44%).

Location

The sum of the mass of Cs and Sr in the melter hood, first section of pipe, refractory sand,and cast refractory is used in the calculation shown on the previous page. Note that only the
results from the first section of off-gas pipe is used for the calculation shown on the previous
page. The results shown on this page represent the sum of Cs and Sr on all three pipe
sections.

(g)

Cs

%

(g)

Sr

%

Refractory Sand

0.00003

0.01

0.00007

0.15

Cast Refractory

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Melter Hood

0.01

5.63

0.00

2.16

Off-Gas Piping

0.02

1.40

0.003

3.61

Baghouse

0.13

53.10

0.001

1.14

HEPA Filter

0.10

39.87

0.04

92.94

Total

0.25

100.000.05

100.00Cs and Sr Retention← EPA Method 5 sample train

Continuous isokinetic
stack sampling(each 100 cm2 to #4,
Wiping entire hood from #5):

Discontinuous Isokinetic stack sampling

Sampling position inprocess sampling

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (8/28): Melt 4 Glass••••

The glass was cut into 4 sections for examination and sample collection.
The glass was semi-crystalline with gray crystals and dark glass (see figure
below).
Samples were collected from 4 sections. Cs concentrations shown in the
figure right are from sample locations projected onto the 2 halves before
they were cut into 4 sections.
The dispersion of Cs concentration was small, and the Cs is very
homogenous in the glass.

Cs in Glass (mg/kg)
Melt 4 (KUR-EH + TSG)PNNL performed Scanning Electron Microscopy-BackScattered Electron/Energy Dispersive x-ray
Spectroscopy (SEM-BSE/EDS)
and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of bulk glass (bulk shaped
glass sample). Crystals are various titanium oxides.

SEM-BSE Image of Melt 4 GlassXRD Results of Melt 4 GlassSEM-EDS Image (Ti)
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (9/28): Melt 5
Melt 5 Objectives

Switching to a two-electrode, lower surface area melter which may reduce Csemission.
● Demonstration of improvement of Cs retention from FY2018 Melt 1 (91.46%).
Improvement was expected to be from 1) better cold cap management and2) lower surface area melter.
●

ALPS Carbonate and Iron Coprecipitation
Slurries are waste sorbent materials used at
1F for multi-nuclide removal.

Melt 5 Results

All materials introduced into the melter were
processed.
● The waste loading was 75.55% on a glass oxide basis. On a dry feed basis, thewaste loading was 71.70%● 97.72% Cs retention in glass. 100% Sr retention in glass.
●

The volumes of the 4 and 2electrodes melters are thesame but the surface area
is much less in the 2electrode melter(rectangular rather thansquare electrode array).
The lower surface area
should reduce Cs emission
into the off-gas.

Melt 5 Recipe.
Component
KUR-EHALPS Carbonate
Surry
ALPS Iron
Coprecipitation
SlurryGlass Additives
Subtotal

Mass (kg)116.16

wt%
56.97

39.74

19.49

10.56

5.18

37.43

18.36

203.89100
19% moisture,
KUR-EH basis;
22.11
9% wateroverall
226

Water
Total
Tracers:CsCl

150.00 g

SrCO3

165.00 g

4-ElectrodeSurface Area (cm2)
Volume (L)Surface Area/Volume

2-Electrode

1865

1266

80

80

23.31

15.83

2-Electrode Melter
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (10/28):
Melt 5 Infrared Camera View into the Melter
Melt 5 IR Camera Images

Melt 5 had good cold-cap management until 15.67 hours which is the time when melting of the final topoff frit began melting.
● Once the top-off frit was completely melted the test was concluded because at this point all materials fed
into the melter had been converted into glass.
●

Infrared Image at End of Melt 5

Infrared Images During Melt 5 （ Blue framework
indicates the situation after TOF feeding (15.0-16.3h)）
Glass Surface Before Cutting and Sampling
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (11/28):
Melt 5 Feed Rate and Melt Temperatures
The initial batch was 51.8 kg and 160 kg of materials were fed into the melter during operations. The test
materials consist of KUR-EH + ALPS slurry + glass additives.
● Type R thermocouples were used for this melt and the maximum temperatures recorded was 1421 °C.
●

Melt thermocouples TI-103, TI-104,
TI-109 locations

Melt 5 Feed Rate

Melt 5 Temperatures

Situation inside of the melter at
the start of melting
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (12/28): Melt 5 Cs and Sr Distribution•••

0.9481 g of Cs and 0.0077 g of Sr were detected in the melter hood interior, piping, and filters.
Essentially no Cs or Sr was detected in the refractory after subtracting the natural concentration from themeasured concentration of Cs and Sr.
0.9481 g of Cs equates to 98.90% retention in glass which agrees well with the continuous isokinetic stacksampling results (97.72%).
Location

Pipe Wipe Sampling for Cs and Sr Analysis

Cs
(g)

Sr
%

(g)

%

Refractory Sand

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Cast Refractory

0.0007

0.07

0.00

0.00

Melter Hood

0.03994.21

0.0001

12.5

Off-Gas Piping

0.00040.04

0.0001

12.5

Baghouse

0.221923.40

0.000675.00

HEPA Filter

0.6852

72.28

0.00

0.00

Total

0.9481100.000.0077100.00

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (13/28): Melt 5 Glass••••

The glass was cut into 4 sections for examination and sample collection.
The glass was non-crystalline with some small troilite (FeS) nodules.
Samples were collected from 4 sections. Cs concentrations shown in the
figure right are from sample locations projected onto the 2 halves before
they were cut into 4 sections.
The dispersion of Cs concentration was small, and the Cs is very
homogenous in the glass.

Cs in Glass (mg/kg)
Melt 5 (KUR-EH + ALPS)SEM-BSE Electron (Microscopy-Back-Scattered
Electron/Energy Dispersive x-ray Spectroscopy) of
bulk glass showed some dispersed metallic nodules
which was conformed by XRD (X-ray Diffraction) to
be FeS.

SEM-BSE Image of Melt 5 GlassXRD Results of Melt 5 Glass

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (14/28): Melt 6 Objectives and Results
Melt 6 Objectives

Melt 6 Recipe.

Bottom-up startup, two-electrode melter● Reproduction of excellent Cs retention from FY2018 Melt 2 (99.30%).
●

Melt 6 Results

All materials introduced into the melter were processed. The maximum
melt temperature was 1534 °C.
● The waste loading was 79.20% on a glass oxide basis. On a dry feed basis, thewaste loading was 76.02%● 98.77% Cs retention in glass. 100% Sr retention in glass.
●Type K thermocouples
were installed in the
top of the waste feedpile to monitor cold cap
temperatures

Component
KUR-EHKUR-TSGGlass Additives

Mass(kg)
103.90
36.59
29.31

wt%
61.19
21.55
17.26

Subtotal

169.80100
19% moisture,
KUR-EH basis;
12% water
overall

Water
24.90
Total:
Tracers:
CsCl
SrCO3

194.70142.46 g
156.71 g

The cold cap was cold
throughout the melt
indicating the likelihoodof Cs to condense in
the cold cap.

Melt 6 Temperatures

Melt 6 Feed Rate
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Situation inside of the melterat the start of melting23

3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (15/28): Melt 6 Cs and Sr Distribution•••

0.2917 g of Cs and 0.0004 g of Sr were detected in the melter hood interior, piping, and filters.
Essentially no Cs or Sr was detected in the refractory.
0.2917 g of Cs equates to 99.67% retention in glass which agrees fairly well with the continuous isokinetic
stack sampling results (98.77%).
Cs

Location(g)

Baghouse Bag Sampling for Cs and Sr Analysis

Sr
%

(g)

%

Refractory Sand

0.00

0.00

0.00006

15.81

Cast Refractory

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Melter Hood

0.02

5.50

0.002

46.04

Off-Gas Piping

0.00050.16

0.0001

38.15

Baghouse

0.12

42.62

0.00

0.00

HEPA Filter

0.15

51.72

0.00

0.00

Total

0.29

100.000.0004100.00

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (16/28): Melt 6 Glass••••

The glass was cut into 4 sections for examination and sample collection.
The glass was semi-crystalline with titanium phases similar to Melt 4.
Samples were collected from 4 sections. Cs concentrations shown in the
figure right are from sample locations projected onto the 2 halves before
they were cut into 4 sections.
The dispersion of Cs concentration was small, and the Cs is very
homogenous in the glass.

Cs in Glass (mg/kg)
Melt 6 (KUR-EH + TSG)XRD (X-ray Diffraction) of bulk glass identified rutile(TiO2), freudenbergite (NaTi3FeO8)), chrichtonite(Sr,Ca)(Ti,Fe,V,Cr)20O38) and minor iron phases

SEM-BSE Image of Melt 6 GlassXRD Results of Melt 6 GlassSEM-EDS Image (Ti)
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (17/28): Melt 7 Objectives and Results
Melt 7 Recipe

Melt 7 Objectives

Component
KUR-EH
AREVA Sludge
Simulant
Glass Additives
Subtotal

Bottom-up startup, two-electrode melter.
● Improvement of Cs retention from FY2018 Melt 3.
●

Melt 7 Results

All materials introduced into the melter were processed. The maximum
melt temperature was 1398 °C.
● The waste loading was 67.00% on a glass oxide basis. On a dry feed basis, thewaste loading was 64.00%.
● 98.47% Cs retention in glass. 100% Sr retention in glass.
Type K thermocouples
●

Water

Tracers:
CsCl
SrCO3

Mass (kg)110.79
9.80

wt%
63.89
5.65

52.82
173.4130.46
100.0024% moisture,
KUR-EH basis;
12% water
overall

26.59
Total

200.00127.65 g
140.41 g

were installed in the
top of the waste feedpile to monitor cold cap
temperatures

The cold cap was cold
until the end of themelt indicating theability of Cs tocondense in the coldcap.

Melt 7 Temperatures

Melt 7 Feed Rate
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Situation inside of the melterat the start of melting26

3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (18/28): Melt 7 Cs and Sr Distribution•••

0.4937 g of Cs and 0.0901 g of Sr were detected in the melter hood interior, piping, and filters.
Essentially no Cs or Sr was detected in the refractory.
0.4937 g of Cs equates to 99.42% retention in glass which agrees fairly well with the continuous isokinetic
stack sampling results (98.47%).
Cs

Sr

Location(g)

HEPA Filter Sampling for Cs and Sr Analysis

%

(g)

%

Refractory Sand

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Cast Refractory

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Melter Hood

0.007491.52

0.00005

0.06

Off-Gas Piping

0.001680.34

0.00013

0.14

Baghouse

0.033856.86

0.00005

0.06

HEPA Filter

0.045072

91.29

0.0898999.74

0.4937100.000.09012100.00Total

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (19/28): Melt 7 Glass••••

The glass was cut into 4 sections for examination and sample collection.
The glass was amorphous and homogenous with a small amount of
karelianite ((Cr0.05V0.95)2O3] crystals.
Samples were collected from 4 sections. Cs concentrations shown in the
figure right are from sample locations projected onto the 2 halves before
they were cut into 4 sections.
The dispersion of Cs concentration was small, and the Cs is very
homogenous in the glass.

Cs in Glass (mg/kg)
Melt 7 (KUR-EH + AREVA)XRD of bulk glass identified a small amount of
karelianite ((Cr0.05V0.95)2O3]

SEM-BSE Image of Melt GlassXRD Results of Melt 7 GlassSEM-EDS Image (V)Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (20/28): Melt 8 Objectives
Melt 8 Objectives

Bottom-up startup, two-electrode melter.
● Demonstrate restarting method after emergency
shutdown and assumed accidents/events.
● Demonstrate the use of 1F soil rather than KUR-EH toprovide the glass formers for the melt.
●

1F Soil Simulant
Component
wt%
HRTS Soil
45.41
SiO2
38.16
Al2O3
11.14
Fe2O3
3.33
CaCO3
0.31
Mg(OH)2
0.53
K2CO3
1.13
Total
100.001F soil simulant was
prepared by blending
additives with soil fromthe test site of Richland,
WA, USA (HRTS in thetable is abbreviation oftest site) to have thenearly same composition
as the average of 6 1F
soil samples collected by
IRID in 2015
Component
1F Soil
Simulant
ALPS
Carbonate
SlurryGlass
Additives
Subtotal
Water“The results of analysis of the waste samples (soil, incineration ash and inlet/outlet water of water treatment
facility (Cs absorption system, advanced liquid processing system))” IRID/JAEA March 30, 2017

Melt 8 Recipe.
Mass (kg)
74.31
24.77

20.00

24.77

20.00

123.85100.0015% moisture,
1F Soil basis

11.15
Total

wt%
60.00

135.00Melt 8 Methods

Day 1: Bottom-up processing of initial batch + additional test material feed.
Power suspended after 6.5 hours of operation.
● Cool glass for 4 days.
● Day 2: Remote installation of frit and starter path followed by top-down
processing + additional test material feed + top-off frit. Melt ended after
13 hours of operation.
●

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (21/28): Melt 8 Day 1
Day 1 started with an initial 80 kg batch.
● 20 kg of test materials was fed into the melter during operations according
to the test plan.
● Power to the melt was shut off after 6.5 hours to simulate emergency
shutdown and assumed accidents/events.
●

Final Day 1 Mass
Initial Batch
Feeding test materials

Looking into the melter showing 80 kgof test materials, feed pipes,
electrodes, and refractory

Melt 8 Day 1 Feed Rate

IR view into the melter at 2 hours

IR view into the melter at 6.5hours (end of Day 1)

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

View into the melter showing surface of
simulated failed melt. The material visible is
not glass because the melt was suspended
before completion according to the test plan30

3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (22/28): Melt 8 Day 2 and Results
4 kg of top off frit (TOF) was fed onto the Day 1 surface.
● 1.2 kg of starter path was fed onto the glass frit. This is remoteapplication of a starter path.
● 35 kg of waste simulant was fed into the melter during operations.
● 11kg of TOF was fed at the final stage of melt (the amount of glass fritwas 15 kg during melt operation including 4kg fed before restarting).
●

Melt 8 Day 2 IR Images

Final Mass

Feeding Glass Frit

Feeding TOF

Feeding Test materials
View into the melter showing thesurface of the glass monolith.

Melt 8 Results

Melt 8 Day 2 Feed Rate

Day 1 glass is darker in color thanDay 2 glass because of coolingand re-heating.

• The restart was successful.
• The examination of the glass surface and the melt thermocouple
temperatures realized during Day 1 and Day 2 indicates that allmaterials introduced into the melter were processed into glass. Thiswas confirmed by cutting and examining the glass.

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Cross-Section of Melt 8 Glass31

3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (23/28): Test Metrics
MetricMelter Surface Area/Volume
Waste TypeDry Feed Waste Loading(Includes Frit) (%)
Glass Oxide Waste Loading (%)
Dry Test Materials Processed(kg)
Water Processed (kg)
Water Processed (% of Total
Mass Processed)
Water Processed (% of Total
Mass; Not Including TOF)
Top-Off Frit (TOF) Processed(kg)
Total Mass Processed (kg)
Energy (kWh)Average Power (kW)Melt Duration (hours)
Processing Rate (kg/hr)
Processing Efficiency (kWh/kg)
Mass of Glass (kg)Mass Loss (%)
Volume Processed (L)Volume of Glass (L)Volume Reduction (%)
Cs Retention in Glass (%)
Sr Retention in Glass (%)

Melt 1

Melt 2 Melt 3

23.17
23.17
KUR-EH KUR-EH
ALPS KUR-TSG

Melt 4

Melt 5

23.17
23.17
15.77
KUR-EH KUR-EH KUR-EH +AREVA KUR-TSG
ALPSMelt 6

Melt 7 Melt 8

15.77
15.77
KUR-EH KUR-EH
KUR-TSG AREVA

15.77
1F Soil
ALPS

75.77

77.44

64.39

77.44

75.55

76.02

64.00

71.00

71.10

76.60

63.30

76.60

71.70

79.20

67.00

72.42

195.08182.73188.90181.28185.85169.76173.45

122.64

10.92

16.77

36.10

18.22

20.15

24.94

26.55

11.36

5

8

15

9

9

12

12

8

5

8

16

9

10

13

13

8

15.00

12.50

15.00

12.50

15.00

15.00

15.00

16.00*

221.00219.82
16.19
13.58
16.29
0.99
176.6020267.55
68.67
74
91.46
99.76

212.00232.67
13.89
16.75
12.66
1.10
155.8027283.23
63.93
77
99.30
99.99

240.00336.06
22.40
15.00
16.00
1.40
169.2029317.46
66.00
79
93.79
100.00212.00365.02
17.11
21.33
9.94
1.72
164.2623
282.67
67.77
76
99.44
99.99

221
303.09
18.65
16.25
13.6
1.37
172.6922254.02
60.29
76
97.72
100.00209.70345.40
19.93
17.33
12.10
1.65
166.4121241.26
60.29
75
98.77
100.00215.00349.04
19.39
18.00
11.94
1.62
165.0023236.97
61.15
74
98.47
100.00150.00376.71
19.32
19.50
7.69
2.51
131.4012147.06
51.65
65
None
None

*includes 4 kg glass frit at top-down restart and 11 kg top-off-frit at last stage of melt
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (24/28):
Melt Surface Area, Start-up Method and Water Content•••

Effect of Melt Surface Area: In Melts 5,6,7 the melter with reduced surface area/volume to see whether lesssurface area would lower Cs emission.
Effect of Strat-up Method (Top-down/Bottom-up): With same waste simulant Melt 2 was bottom-up andMelt 4 was top-down.
Effect of Water Content: Varied water content in Melts 4,5,6,7 to see if this had any affect on Cs retention.
Bottom-Up

Top-Down

Green circles are Melts in FY 2018. Blue circles are
Melts in FY 2019-2020.

4-electrode melter

2-electrode melter
2-electrode melter

Conclusions:・ 99+% Cs retention is achievable with either 2 or 4-electrode melter. (These melters have different surface area
but the surface area does not affect Cs retention if good cold cap management is used).
・ 99+% Cs retention is achievable with top-down or bottom-up melt startup.
・ It appears that 8-13% water content is best, but other factors (poor cold cap management in Melt 1 andrelatively high power at the end of Melt 3 ) rather than water content caused lower Cs retention in
those melts.
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (25/28):
Summary of Discontinuous Isokinetic Stack Sampling Results
Discontinuous isokinetic stack sampling was performed for each melt test to assess variability in Cs emissions.
Conclusions:
1) Emissions are highest at the final phase of melt (TOF feeding and processing; blue part in the table below)
Cause : Final cold cap mel ng → It is extremely important to manage the TOF that func ons as a cold cap.
2) Emissions are very low for the most of melt test. (yellow part in the table below)
Cause : Good cold cap management
3) Emissions increased over several periods of melt test (red part in the table below)
Cause: Insufficient cold cap management.
Insufficient cold cap management when feeding test materials
Because the output at the end of melt isrelatively high (40 kW), the cold cap
disappears early.
Discontinuous isokinetic stack sampling run
2
1.98
0.003
0.003
0.05

3
3.03
0.0004
3.68
0.05

4

1
2
3
4

1
0.28
0.004
0.004
0.12

5
6
7

0.00010.00000.00020.00000.00000.0004

0.001
0.003
0.06

1.38
0.87
0.10

Melt

Cs emissions (g)••Very Low Emissions5

溶融
試験 合計（連続）
1
8.13
2
0.70
3
4.46
4
0.47

6

0.02
0.37
0.46

Slightly High Emissions

Cold cap partially disappears due totemporary delay in test material feeding

0.04

5
6
7

2.30
1.14
1.36

放出率
8.54%
0.70%
6.21%
0.56%
2.28%
1.23%
1.31%

TOF/End of Melt Stage

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (26/28): Melt Temperature and Cs Retention• Maximum melt temperatures ranged from ~1400 °C to 1532 °C and Cs retention ranged from 97.72% and 98.77%.
• Cs condenses at ~671 °C. The cold cap is below ~671 °C until the end of the melt (TOF-stage), that means that Cs is
kept condensed in the cold cap.
• The mechanism for Cs retention after transferred to the cold cap is condensation in the cold cap and continuous
melting of the cold cap into glass.
• The three cold cap thermocouples in Melt 7 were exposed above the glass layer at the end of the melt; therefore,
the three cold cap thermocouples never recorded molten glass temperatures. We are assured that the final cold
cap achieved melt temperature because it was melted, even though we did not have a thermocouple at the level ofthe final melt surface.

1532°C
1400°C

From 0 to ~16 hours the cold cap is cold enough to condense Cs.
After ~16 hours there is no cold cap because the melt is ending

TOF is mostly processed, andthe melt descends past thethermocouples which are fixed

671 °C
Last feeding of TOF
Melt 7 Cold Cap
Thermocouples

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (27/28): 28-Day Leach Testing Results
PNNL tested glass from Melts 4 through 8 using theMaterials Characterization Center-1 (MCC-1) test.
The 28-day normalized mass loss (NLNa) and 28-365day leach rates (rNa) are lower (better) than the U.S.
and Japanese High-Level Waste (HLW) reference
glasses (EA Glass and P0798 )Experiment
Melt 4
Melt 5Melt 6
Melt 7*
Melt 8

NLNa at 28 days (g/m2)
rNa (g/m2/d)(28 to 365 days)
8.4 ± 2.0
(6.6 ± 2.2) × 10-3
6.2 ± 0.7
(1.2 ± 0.1) × 10-2
5.9 ± 1.3
(1.4 ± 0.4) × 10-2
5.4 ± 0.4
(1.2 ± 0.9) × 10-2
6.0 ± 8.4
Not Tested

Reference
Glasses
NLNa at 28 days (g/m2) rNa (g/m2/d)(28 to 365 days)
1.9 x 10-1
EA Glass
34.97
P0798
9.59
9.0 x 10-2
*Na calculated to 270 days because 365 data are not yet available

The semi-crystalline glass seen for the titanate Melts 4
and 6 was generally as durable as the non-crystalline glasses indicating no deleterious effects from TiO2 crystals.
SEM examination of a 365-day MCC-1 alteration layer in Melt 4 glass indicates:
1) No preferential dissolution of the glass around the crystalline phases.
2) Alteration zone is mostly depleted in Na confirming Na is a good tracer of glass alteration

SEM-BSE of Melt 4 Alteration Layer SEM-EDS of Melt 4
Depletion
Alteration Layer
of Na in
SEM-BSE examination of Melt 4alteration
Glass
layer
Alteration Layer after 365 days of MCC-1
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Resin in which
the glasssample isembedded

No preferential
dissolution of
Ti-rich crystals

SEM-EDS of Melt 4
Alteration Layer

36

3. Engineering-Scale Melt Test (28/28): 365-Day Leach Testing Results• The long-term normalized mass loss (NLNa) of GeoMelt®ICVTM glasses obtained from
Melt tests 4-8 in this study, and from Melts tests 1-3 in the FY2018 IRID project are
shown in the graphic below. By obtaining plural data points between 28-day and 365day, the quality of data can be evaluated adequately, and the leach rate can becalculated accurately.
• The graphic shows that
GeoMelt® ICVTM glasses
have initial releaseessentially equivalent to theP0798 reference glass, thenthe GeoMelt® ICVTM glass
elemental release slows
down and stabilizes beyond
90 days indicating betterlong-term leach resistance Initial
Releaseof the GeoMelt ICVTM
glasses than the reference
glasses.
Long-term release showing normalized
mass loss for GeoMelt glasses arelower than the Japan reference glass,

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science):
Enhance and enlarge of glass database for waste treatment (1/4)• PNNL formulated new glass recipes for wastes not previously studied in the FY2017-2018 IRID project.
Glass

WastesLimiting
component**

Results Summary

1F-49

KUR-SMZ

84.6% zeolite

Clear brown glass

1F-50

EN-101, KUR-EH 12.2% TiO2

1F-51

IE-911, KUR-EH

9.1% TiO2, 5.5%
Nb2O5

TiO2 crystals

1F-52

FO-36, KUR-EH

20% Fe2O3

Fe2O3 crystals

1F-53

Hydro, KUR-EH

8.1% MgO

Clear brown glass

1F-54

GFH, KUR-EH

20% Fe2O3

Fe2O3 crystals

1F-55A*

SDVB, KUR-EH

10% SDVB

Clear brown glass

1F-55B

SDVB, KUR-EH

20% SDVB

Clear brown glass

1F-56

EN-101, KUR-EH 9.9% TiO2

1F-57

IE-911, KUR-EH

7.6% TiO2, 4.4%
Nb2O5

No crystals

1F-58A*

SDVB, KUR-EH

25% SDVB

Clear brown glass

1F-58B

SDVB, KUR-EH

30% SDVB

Clear brown glass

No crystals

Small % irontitanate• ・In FY2017, we formulated and fabricatedtotal of 40 glasses in crucible melts. A totalof 20 different waste simulants representing
a broad range of chemistries were tested.
• ・In this study we formulated and fabricatedanother 12 glasses representing 7 previously
untested 1F wastes.
• In total we have tested wastes representing
94% of the volume of 1F water treatment
secondary wastes (FY2018 volumes).

The same heatingschedule was used for all
crucibles in the FY2019FY2020 study• A and B denote different organic concentrations for the same glass composition** Chemicals/components which effect on the stability of glass
Waste Abbreviation
SMZ
IE-911
EN-101
FO-36
Hydro

Composition
Surfactant modified zeolite
Silicon titanate
Silicon titanate
Chelate resin-based adsorbent (iron hydroxide)
Hydrotalcite

SDVB

Styrene divinylbenzene resin (deposit: amine group)

GFH

Amorphous granular ferric hydroxide

Crucible Furnace Temperature Schedule

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

38

4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science) :Enhance and enlarge of glass database for waste treatment (2/4)• The purpose of the crucible testing was tomanufacture glass to verify that the glass
formulation was adequate in terms of 1) lack of
secondary phases and crystals which are notglass, and 2) chemical durability.
• Each glass formulation was prepared by weighing
the waste simulants and glass additives inaccordance with the recipe in blue weigh boats.
• The waste simulant and additives were mixed
then loaded into fused silica crucibles.
• The crucibles were loaded into the furnace andheated to the schedule shown in the previous
page.
• The crucibles were removed from the furnace at
700 °C, 1,000 °C, and 1300 °C for observationand photography.
• After 1300 °C the crucibles were returned to thefurnace and annealed at 500 °C to prevent
fracturing of the glass during cutting.
• The crucibles were cut in half for inspection,
checking for homogenous glass and the presenceof secondary phases.
• Some of the crucibles that had secondary phases
were re-run with a different glass formulation
with lower amounts of limiting components.
Limiting components are shown on the previous
page. For example, IE-911 contains titanium (Ti)and niobium (Ni). These elements have limited
solubility in glass. Lowering the proportion of IE911 in the 1F-51 formulation reduced the TiO2
and Nb2O5 fraction in the 1F-57 glass.
• Three crucible glasses were tested by MCC-1.
Results are on Page 41.

Fused silica cruciblewith the glass
identification writtenwith hightemperature ink

The contents of the
crucible at 700 ℃(not yet melted)

1F-49: KUR-SMZ

The molten contents
at the 1000 ℃ and
1300℃

84.6% zeoliteBlue weigh boat
containing theingredients ofthe glass recipe

1F-50: EN-101, KUR-EH

1F-56: EN-101, KUR-EH

12.2% TiO2

9.9% TiO2

1F-51: IE-911, KUR-EH

9.1% TiO2, 5.5% Nb2O5

1F-57: IE-911, KUR-EH

7.6% TiO2, 4.4% Nb2O5

Reduction in Ti
and Nb eliminatedTiO2 surface
phasecrystals andTop- and side-views of the glassin the crucible after cutting

The bulk glass is amorphous witha non-crystalline surface
secondary phase on the surface
Iteration
betweenhigher andlower
limiting
components
to reduce
secondaryphases
Iteration
betweenhigher andlower
limiting
components toreducesecondaryphases

1F-52: FO-36, KUR-EH 20% Fe2O3

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science) :Enhance and enlarge of glass database for waste treatment (3/4)• This page shows more crucible tests. Please refer tothe previous slide for a description of themethodology.

The contents of the
crucible at 700 °C(not yet melted)

The molten contents
at 1000 °C and1300 °C

1F-53:

Hydro, KUR-EH

8.1% MgO

1F-54

GFH, KUR-EH

20% Fe2O3

1F-55A:

SDVB, KUR-EH

10% SDVB

1F-55B:

SDVB, KUR-EH

20% SDVB

1F-58A:

SDVB, KUR-EH 25% SDVB

1F-58B:

SDVB, KUR-EH 30% SDVB

Top- and side-views of the glassin the crucible after cutting

Blue weigh boat
containing theingredients ofthe glass recipe
Fused silica cruciblewith the glass
identification writtenwith hightemperature ink

The glassformulation
remained thesame. TheSDVP wasincrementally
increasedfrom 1F-55A
to 1F-58B toverify no
residualorganic
material
remained in
cruciblethrough 1F55B

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste40

4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science):
Enhance and enlarge of glass database for waste treatment (4/4)• The purpose of the crucible
testing was to manufacture
glass to verify that the glass
formulation was adequate
in terms of 1) lack of
secondary phases andcrystals which are notglass, and 2) chemical
durability.
• The test metrics provided
on this page summarize
waste loading, mass loss,
and volume reduction.
These metrics show highwaste loading, significant
mass loss, and high volume
reduction. The ability toaccommodate highamounts of waste in theglass with significant
volume loss and highvolume reduction are
benefits of vitrification.
• The three crucible glasses(1F-49,53,57) tested by
MCC-1 performed better(lower normalized massloss [NLNa] than thereference glasses.
• The crucible testing
indicated that the wastes
are treatable by GeoMeltICV.

XRD of 1F-51 bulk glass identified rutile(TiO2)XRD Results of 1F-52

1F-51 SEM-EDS Image (T)Crucible Test Metrics
Dry Feed
Waste
Glass Oxide
Loading
Waste(%)
Loading (%)
76.93
81.93

Mass
Loss
(%)
28

VolumeReduction(%)
79

Crucible
1F-49

Waste Type
KUR-SMZ

1F-50

KUR-EH + EN-101

86.9

90.01

24

80

1F-56

(18%)
KUR-EH + EN-101

85.96

87.58

22

82

1F-51

(14%)
KUR-EH + IE-911 (21%)

88.94

91.95

29

89

1F-57

KUR-EH + IE-911 (17%)

86.58

89.58

26

81

1F-52

KUR-EH + FO-36

90.95

88.24

54

86

1F-53

KUR-EH + Hydrotalcite

80.9

81.93

27

83

1F-54

KUR-EH + GFH

84.41

70.11

24

83

1F-55-A

KUR-EH + Styrene

82.56

84.34

31

82

1F-55-B

divinylbenzene (10%)
KUR-EH + Styrene

84.5

84.35

37

84

1F-58-A

divinylbenzene (20%)
KUR-EH + Styrene

85.46

84.35

39

82

1F-58-B

divinylbenzene (25%)
KUR-EH + Styrene

86.43

84.32

42

85

divinylbenzene (30%)
ExperimentMCC-1 Resultsof Select
Crucible Glasses
Compared toReference
Glasses

SEM-EDS Image 1F-54 (Fe)

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

NLNa at 28 days (g/m2)

1F-49

3.14

1F-53

11.49

1F-57

5.20

Reference Glasses
NLNa at 28 days (g/m2)
EA Glass

34.97

P0798

9.59
41

4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science): Modeling on the
Effects of Waste Compositional Variability and Melt Temperature (1/5)
Purpose•Study on the effect of waste compositional variability

Methodology•••

Because compositional variations of the 1F wastes are unknown, the investigation on the effects of thecompositional variation of wastes was investigated by computer modeling using variation in waste component
concentration ranges input into the model. Components are expressed as glass oxides (for example, SiO2, Al2O3,
MgO, etc.).
PNNL used their proprietary glass property-composition model which was also used to formulate the GeoMeltICVTM glasses used in the engineering-scale and crucible-scale testing in this Subsidy Project.
The modeling evaluatedo The potential impacts of 1F waste compositional variability on maximum waste loading.
o The effects from blending various wastes on maximum waste loading.
o The difference between high-melt temperature glass and low melt temperature glass on waste loading andtotal mass of glass produced when treating the total quantity of assessed wastes.
o the effects of model prediction and process uncertainty on maximum waste loading and total glass mass tobe produced.

Five Wastes Investigated in the Computer Modeling
•
•
•
•
•

Zeolite (including KUR-EH and IE-96, from cesium removal vessels)
ARS: AREVA Sludge, a barium sulfate sludge from a decontamination device.
CST: Crystalline silicotitanate, used in several Sr removal devices.
TSG: KUR-TSG (Titanosilicate granular) a different CST used in Kurion’s Sr removal device.
ALPS Ca-Mg: ALPS Carbonate Slurry used in the multi-nuclide removal equipment.
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science): Modeling on the
Effects of Waste Compositional Variability and Melt Temperature (2/5)
Glass Property Constraints used in the PNNL Modeling••

The table below lists the glass property constraints used in the modeling. MCC-1, PCT, and VHT are internationalleach test procedures. LAW SO3 solubility is a property constraint used for the computer modeling of the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), a vitrification plant being commissioned at the U.S.
DOE Hanford Site. SO3 is known to have a limited solubility in glass so this component must be limited in glass
formulations which includes sulfur (for example 1F AREVA Sludge formulations).
High- and Low-Temperature melters are defined in the model as producing molten glass at high-temperatures(>1250 °C) and at low-temperatures <1050 °C.
Glass Property Constraints used in the Modeling
Properties

Criteria for high-temperature melters

Criteria for low-temperature melters

Melting temperature TM

1250 °C and 1500 °C

1000 °C and 1050 °C

MCC-1 normalized B mass loss (NLB), 28 d at 90 °C
PCT normalized B, Li and Na mass loss (NLi, i = B, Li,Na), 7 d at 90 °C≤ 7.46 g·m-2≤ 7.46 g·m-2≤ EA glass (8.35, 4.785, 6.675 g·m–2 for B, Li, Na)≤ EA glass (8.35, 4.785, 6.675 g·m–2 for B, Li, Na)

VHT alteration depth, 24 d at 200 °C≤ 453 μm

≤ 453 μm

LAW SO3 solubility

Solubility > SO3 in glass

0.85 × Solubility > SO3 in glass

Viscosity (ηT) at melting temperature TM

1 ≤ ηT ≤ 15 Pa·s

2 ≤ ηT ≤ 8 Pa·s

Electrical conductivity (ɛT) at melting temperature TM

10 ≤ ɛT ≤ 70 S·m–1

None

Normalized alkali to avoid immiscibility≥ 0.2 mass fraction≥ 0.2 mass fraction

Normalized submixture to avoid nepheline formation≤ 0.3 probability≤ 0.3 probability

Ti crystallization

TiO2 ≤ 12.18 wt%

TiO2 ≤ 5.49 wt%

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science): Modeling on the
Effects of Waste Compositional Variability and Melt Temperature (3/5)
Wastes Investigated in the PNNL Modeling•••

Fifteen cases with various waste blending estimates for five selected wastes were assessed.
Glasses were formulated to the maximize waste loading while simultaneously satisfying theproperty (e.g., chemical durability, viscosity, electrical conductivity) and composition constraints.
The table below lists the individual fifteen cases in the model and the mass ratio of the blended
Waste Blending Information for the 15 Cases Modeled
wastes in cases B1 through B10.
Case

15 cases. Cases
S1 through S5 aremodeled glasses
containing only 1
waste. Cases B1
through B10 are
glasses containing
2 wastes.

Waste 1

Waste 2Mass ratio ofwaste 1 to waste 2

S1

KUR-EH/IE-96

None



S2

AREVA
Sludge

None



S3

CST

None



S4

TSG

None



S5

ALPS Ca-Mg

ALPS Carbonate Slurry

B1

KUR-EH/IE-96

AREVA Sludge

15.31

B2

KUR-EH/IE-96

Crystalline
Silicotitanate

4.06

B3

KUR-EH/IE-96

KUR-TSG

5.63

B4

KUR-EH/IE-96

ALPS Carbonate Slurry

0.87

AREVA
Sludge
AREVA
Sludge
AREVA
SludgeCrystalline
Silicotitanate

0.27

KUR-TSG

0.37

ALPS Carbonate Slutty

0.06

B8

CST

KUR-TSG

1.38

B9

CST

ALPS Carbonate Slurry

0.21

B10

KUR-TSGALPS Carbonate Slurry

0.15

B5
B6
B7

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science): Modeling on the
Effects of Waste Compositional Variability and Melt Temperature (4/5)
Results of the PNNL Modeling (1 of 2)
Compositional and model
MWL substantially
•
•
•

•

•

The graphic below shows some results ofthe modeling.
The top graphic shows maximum wasteloadings of each of the 15 glasses modeled.
The bottom graphic portrays the single
waste (cases S1 through S5) or double
wastes (B1 through B10) corresponding to
the data points shown in the top graphic.
Please understand that the top graphic also
takes into account model uncertainty. “NoU” is an abbreviation for no uncertainty.
Ucomp is an abbreviation for composition
uncertainty which means waste variability.
Upred is an abbreviation for model
prediction uncertainty. Computer models
are not exact replications of real-life andthe Upred is related to the quantity of datain the compositional range being
investigated in the model.
The graphic below compares various glasschemistries to the Maximum Waste
Loading (MWL) achieved when vitrifying
the individual wastes (cases S1 through S5)
or combination of two wastes (cases B1
through B10).

prediction uncertainties
result in slight reduction in
Maximum Waste Loading(MWL)

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

increased by blending
other wastes with KUR-EH

45

4. Basic Experiments and Modeling (1) (Glass Science): Modeling on the
Effects of Waste Compositional Variability and Melt Temperature (5/5)
Results of the PNNL Modeling (2 of 2)
•

•

•

•

The graphic on this page shows that using ahigh-temperature melter (such as GeoMeltICV) to treat all the wastes considered in themodeling will result in much less (approx. 28%less) glass produced when all the wastes
considered are vitrified. This is because hightemperature melters can achieve a higher
waste loading. The higher the waste loading,the more waste is in the glass.
The graphic on this page also shows thatblending two wastes will also significantly
reduce (approx.12% reduction) the total glass
produced when treating the entire quantity of
the five wastes considered.
High temperature melters have more waste
and less additives (non-wastes) resulting inhigher waste loadings and a significant
reduction (approx.37% reduction) in the total
glass mass required to treat the five wastes
considered.
High temperature melters are more efficientthan low temperature melters.

Low Temperature Melters

High Temperature Melters(GeoMelt ICV)Effect of melting temperature and blending on total glass
mass for treating of the five wastes, and relative change (RC)in total glass mass as compared to the values of lowtemperature melters at 1000 °C (no uncertainties).

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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5. Basic Experiments and Modeling (2):(Elucidation of mechanism that suppresses volatilization of Cs)（1/2）
Study Contents●●●

Research on elucidation of quantitative and visible mechanism that suppresses volatilization of Cs.
In order to understand the stabilization of Cs or its dissipation to the outside of the system, the GeoMelt ICV process was simulated at thelaboratory level to examine quantitatively. GeoMelt ICV was simulated by preparing an equipment that can simulate the temperature gradient inwhich the lower molten glass is heated by an external electric heater and the input thermal energy is transmitted upward to proceed the melting.
In GeoMelt ICV™ operation, un-melted waste on molten glass is called a cold cap. Focusing the "foam layer and calcined layer" (together called coldcap) at the boundary between molten glass and un-melted waste on this study, and a three-layer structure consisting of un-melted waste / cold cap /glass melt was formed to understand their states.
Heating of heat bath at
1200 ℃

100 ℃
500 ℃
Cold Cap

900 ℃

Cold Cap

1100 ℃
Heat bath1200 ℃

Simulated 3 layers configuration:
FEM mesh (left), Temperature gradient (right)

Test Procedure
●
●
●
●
●

Laboratory test equipmentthat simulates GeoMeltICV™ and heats from thebottomHeat bath, which is the heat source at the bottom, is heated to 1200℃.
Insert simulated waste in a 300 mL quartz beaker. Melt 5,6,7 simulated wastes were used for the study.
Temperature gradient was measured by setting thermocouples at several locations in the quartz beaker.
Once the melt at the bottom of the quartz beaker exceeded of 1000 ℃ and reached a constant temperature, eachbeaker was removed and allowed to cool.
Samples were collected to evaluate the internal Cs concentration distribution and used as test pieces.
Simulated waste filled in a quartz beakerEvaluations●●●

Ca and Cs were analyzed by methods and procedures used for composition analysis of waste vitrified borosilicate glass (ICP-MS for Cs and ICP-AES
for Ca).
CaO was used as an internal standard (because absolute concentration cannot be determined) in this analysis method, and the degree of Cs
migration was evaluated by using the Cs / Ca ratio of the analytical value.
Regarding the movement of Cs in the GeoMelt  ICV™ Melter, based on the vapor pressure of Cs metal, it was thought that high vapor pressure
was applied in the temperature range of 600 to 700 ℃, and diffusion movement was caused by the temperature gradient.
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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5. Basic Experiments and Modeling (2)(Elucidation of mechanism that suppresses volatilization of Cs) （2/2）
Result● Since the Cs concentration in the cold cap is about the same order as the concentration of the initial waste
mixture and the molten glass under the cold cap, a lot of Cs still remains around the cold cap, suggesting that
there is no significant movement of Cs above. It was confirmed that diffusion movement that causes a large
composition change does not occur.

① A lot of Cs still remains
around the cold cap, indicatingthat the movement of Cs is notlarge in the cold cap.

The analytical values of the samples melted and un-melted
samples collected from the cold cap (Melt 6 composition)

Condition of Quartz Beaker Removed
After Heating (Melt 5 Material)

The analytical values of samples collected from theglass melted at 1000 ℃ and 1200 ℃ with no coldcap (Melt 6 composition)② Cs volatilization did notoccur remarkably at 1000 ℃
for heating without a cold cap
and with the molten surface
exposed to the atmosphere.
However, since it was halved
when melted at 1200 ℃, it issuggested that volatilization of
Cs occurs remarkably in theregion above 1000 ℃ at thegas-liquid interface.

Areas where samples were collected toanalyze Cs concentration (Melt 6)
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (1/13)
Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) Objectives and Scope:1) The Objectives of the Preliminary Conceptual Design of the GeoMelt® ICV™ Plant for treatment of 1F
water treatment secondary waste are:• Identify key design requirements, specifications, and assumptions for the GeoMelt plant.
• Select operational equipment including material handling, vitrification, and off-gas treatment
components.
• Provide a basic set of drawings (sketches) identifying the process flow, key piping and instrumentation,and general arrangement of equipment.
• Produce material balance calculations from a mass, energy, and activity perspective.
• Provide other important discussion points that define and communicate the components andoperation of the system.
2) The following items were examined, and design
documents were created:
・Design Requirements and Assumptions
・Piping and Instrumentation Drawing (P&ID)
・Melter Feed System Evaluation
・Major Component Sizing
・General Arrangement Drawings
・Operational Sequence Animation

・Process Flow Diagram・ Mass, Energy, and Activity Balance・ System Design Description
・ Utility Requirements
・ Plant Equipment and Process
・ Plant Efficiency and Throughput

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (2/13)
1) Key Interface Points of Plant and Structure of process Area in Plant

Waste vessel(containing waste)2) Traffic line between process areas in the plant
1. ICV container
Preparation

ICV container
Receipt
Waste
VesselReceipt

2. Sorption Vessel
process

3. Feed

10.
Truck-lock
ICV Container(Vitrified
glass
contained) to
Disposal Site

9. ICV container
Release

4. ICV Melt

・Waste vessels containing
waste to be treated, siteutilities and consumables arereceived from outside of theplant.
・After treatment in the plant,
ICVTM containers containing
vitrified glass are released tothe outside of the plant.
・10 process area are in theplant.(see figure left)
・The traffic line of mainmaterials in the plant isshown in the figure below.
ICV container
Waste
Treated Waste
Off-gas/Wastewater
Recycle7. Offgas Treatment
System

5. ICV Container
Cooling

8. Wastewater
Treatment

6 ICV Container
Disposition

Spent Ion-Exchange
VesselProject of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (3/13)
Physical Layout of GeoMeltICVTM Plant:

The zones in the plant are categorized 1 to 4 according to the radiation level and contamination potential level.
Each categorized zone is indicated by color (red, yellow, green and white).

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (4/13)
Waste Retrieval Systems:
Waste vessels are delivered to the GeoMelt ICV plant and waste must be
removed so that it can be added to the ICV container for vitrification. Two
methods of waste retrieval system (DRY and WET) will be used.
1. DRY method - Vessel Retrieval System Dry (VERSYDRY)
1) A Remote Manipulator controls the Dry Retrieval Wand.
2) The wand is a rotating hollow pipe which vacuums waste from the vessels.
3) The wand end blows air out from one side while vacuuming waste up
the other side.
Dry Retrieval Wand End Features.
4) A down-wand camera is used to visually see the waste in the vessel.
5) Dry waste is moved to Dry Waste Receiver by dilute phase pneumaticconveyor
2. WET method - Vessel Retrieval System Wet (VERSYWET)
1) A Remote Manipulator controls the Wet Retrieval Wand.
2) The wand is a rotating hollow pipe which vacuums waste from the vessels.
3) The wand end pumps pressurized water out from one side while
vacuuming waste up the other side.
4) A down-wand video camera is used to see the waste in the vessel.
5) Wet waste is moved to Air/Waste/Water Separator by dilute phasepneumatic conveyor.

Wet Retrieval.
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (5/13)
Waste Transfer Systems:
Transfer method of retrieved waste from vessel to blended waste receiver (“Feeder” to Melter)❶

Separated waste is moved fromthe Air/Waste/Water Separator to the Wet Waste Hopperby chain drag conveyor.

❷

The Wet Waste Hopper discharges into arotary valve which drops waste
into the Blender Hopper bygravity.

❸

The Dry Waste Receiverdischarges into a rotary
valve which drops waste into
the Blender Hopper by gravity.

❹
5

❶
❷

❸ ❹

The Glass Former transferred fromhopper by pneumatic conveyer is
moved from glass former receiver
into a rotary valve.
which drops glass former into the
Blender Hopper by gravity.
Blended waste is moved from theBlender Hopper to the Blended Waste Receiver through arotary valve by dilute phase pneumatic conveyor.

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt  ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (6/13)
Waste Feeding:Feed System to Melter❶

Blended waste is fed from the Blended Waste
Receiver to the melter through a rotary andgate valve system (gravity feed).

❷

Silica sand and glass frit is fed by from the
Silica/Glass Frit Receiver through a rotary and gate
valve system into a sloped pipe to the Blended Waste
Receiver feed pipe, then into the melter (gravityfeed).

❸The SMF discharges particulate into the melter isolation
valves (gravity feed).

❶❷❸

Blended waste, and silica/glass frit are metered by the rotary
valve (shown byin the figure right) . Both receivers haveloss-weight capability and mass of materials into the melter are
tracked by digital readout.

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) ( 7/13)
ICV Container Specification
1. The ICV container and lid constitute the melter and the disposal container for the GeoMelt ICV process.
2. The ICV container contains glass which is the result of vitrification of waste into a chemically stableand physically durable wasteform.
Unit: meter
3. The ICV container is designed to hold 10,000 kg of glass.
Component Thickness
Carbon Steel Exterior (Container and Lid)
Refractory Sand (sides)
Refractory Sand (base)Refractory Sand (top) (If needed)
Cast Refractory (sides)
Cast Refractory (base)
Graphite electrodes (4)mm
25 thickness
150 thickness
200 thickness
610 thickness
150 thickness
150 thickness
200 diameterContainer manufacture
1. The ICV container is made of 25 mm carbon steel plate.
2. It is manufactured by welding the base plate to the 4 sides.
3. There are no internal ribs or bracing.
ICV Container after Melting Complete
4. The cast refractory is a single piece cast and fired to create a monolithic
Upper part above glass was plenum whiletub. Steel fibers are used in the mix for strength. A high-alumina lowmelting, then silica sand is added to fillcement castable refractory (service temperature = 1649 °C) will be used.
upper void above glass
5. The refractory silica sand is composed of 99+ wt% SiO2.
6. The lid manufactured by cutting penetrations into a single 25-mm steel
plate. The underside of the lid has seal which fits to the inside of thecast refractory. This prevents waste from overflowing the cast refractory.
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (8/13)
The ICV container is prepared for melt operation in ICV Preparation Area which is Zone 3 (green)with no radioactive dose or contamination present.
Basic Pre-Melt Container Preparation Steps:
1. Empty container is moved by rail to loading station beneath themezzanine.
2. Refractory silica sand is loaded into container by chain-dragconveyor.
3. Cast refractory tub is loaded into container by overhead crane.
4. Refractory silica sand is loaded outside of the cast refractory
tub by chain-drag conveyor.
5. Frit and starter path is installed in the base of the castrefractory tub.
6. Container lid is installed using the overhead crane.
7. Electrodes (4) are installed into the starter path.
Preparation completed. The
ICVTM container is moved to
Off-gas outlet
the melt station on the rail:
The melt station is the place
Electrode
Electrode
where container is
Camera port
connected with waste feed
Feed port SMF portsystem, off-gas treatment
system, electric power
Physical Layout of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant
supply and instrumentation
Electrode Air inlet Electrodefor melt treatment. The
plant has two melt stations(1 and 2).
ICV Container Lid Detail (Top View)
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (9/13)
After the melt, the container is cooled, sealed, surveyed, and shielded for transport in these areas
Basic Post-Melt Container Cooling and Disposition Steps:
1. After the melt is complete instrumentation and port
connections are disconnected at the melt station.
2. Container is transferred to the Container Cooling Area
where port covers are installed remotely at the Lid
Plugging Station.
3. Container is moved to Decontamination and Sealing
Station where a vacuum wand is used to remove loose
contamination and a sealing fixative is sprayed to fix
residual contamination.
4. Container is moved to the Survey Station and the dose
rate is measured to create the dose map for estimationof total product package activity created.
5. Container is moved to the Shield Install Location where
removable modular shield panels (VNS Patent ref : US
10,311,989 B2) are installed. Removable panels: either
120 mm thick carbon steel or 60 mm carbon steelencased lead.
6. Shielded ICV container: 0.9 mSv/hr at 5 cm from theouter surface of shield panel
7. Container moves through 2 airlocks from Zone 1 toZone 3 Container Release Area.
8. Container is surveyed again and moved to the Zone 4
Truck-Lock for transport out of the plant for storage.

Physical Layout of GeoMeltICVTM Plant

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (10/13)
1. The ICV container does not receive significant thermal influences from the melt process
because it is insulated by the refractory.
2. Thermal modeling analysis indicated the maximum steel temperature of 400 °C which is
below the steel softening temperature of 571 °C.
3. The maximum external temperature from radiolytic decay (only source of heat) will be 40.5 °C.

Analysis conditions
Initial temperature of external surfaces(ICV container shield and ICV container) ：300 °C
the sand components : 800 °C
the refractory, electrodes, and glass: 1300 °C
Thermal conductivity of
Glass:1.11 W/(m*K)
Cast Refractory: 1.74 W/(m*K) @ 540 °C
1.89W/(m*K) @815 °C
2.03 W/(m*K) @1093 °C
Silica Sand: 0.5 W/(m*K)
Carbon Steel:
Decay heat generation density: 939 W/(m3*K)
Ambient temperature: 38 ° C
Thermal Analysis 1 Hour after
Melt Completion (400 °C
Maximum steel temperature)
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Thermal Analysis of Radiolytic Decay Heat
(40.5 °C. Maximum steel temperature)58

6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (11/13)
Off-Gas Treatment System:
Off gas out of the melter istreated by filters and scrubber
to remove radioactive contents

Sintered
Metal Filter

ScrubberHeaterMelterHEPA
FilterBuilding/Vessel
Ventilation

Stack
Stack
SampleMonitor

1. Off-gas treatment begins immediately above the ICV container with a sintered metal filter (SMF) where the majority ofoff-gas particulate (99.97%) is removed, and cool air is blended with the relatively low flow hot off-gas exhaust for further
downstream processes.
2. The SMF contains an array of filter candles that are independently backpulsed upon high differential pressure. Because
only a few of the filters are backpulsed simultaneously, the filter can remain online during cleaning cycles.
3. The SMF is also designed with water spray nozzles to remove residual material from filter candles and internal housingthat is not completely removed by back-pulsing. The backpulsed particulate and cleaning water can then be recycled directly
downward onto the feed pile within the ICV container below. Each melt station has its own SMF.
4. After passing through the SMF, Melter station 1 and 2 off-gas combines and enters a wet scrubber (e.g., packed bed
scrubber) where minor organics and other dissolved solids are captured and treated.
5. After leaving the wet scrubber, the off-gas temperature is heated using an inline heater to prevent condensation, prior toentering the final HEPA filter treatment stage. This final HEPA filter step removes 99.97% of any remaining particulate before
entering the OGTS Fan and exiting via the off-gas stack to atmosphere.
6. The OGTS Fan maintains negative pressure throughout the off-gas treatment system and the off-gas is treated safely inthis system.

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (12/13)
Mass and Activity Balance:••

Mass balance were calculated to provide an accounting of the inputs, outputs of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant
Activity balance were calculated to provide an accounting of the removable by off-gas treatment
system and the release.
The Mass Balance of GeoMelt ICV Treating Kurion Waste

Kilograms of Waste Feed per ICV Container

9,612

Kilograms of Glass Formers per ICV Container

2,337

Kilograms of Glass Frit per ICV Container

888

GeoMelt
Process

Kilograms of Glass per ICV Container

10,000The Activity Balance of Treating 1 Kurion Vessel
Sr-90

Cs-134

Cs-137①

The amounts fed to Melter with waste per ICV container (TBq)

1.65E+03

5.58E+02

8.13E+03②

The retention factor of glass (%)

99.99

99.3

99.3

③

The amounts in off gas just out of Melter (TBq)

1.65E-01

3.93E+00

5.73E+01④

Capture Efficiency of sintered metal filter (%)
And amounts after (TBq).

99.97
4.95E-05

99
1.18E-03 .97

99
1.72E-02 .97⑤

Removal Efficiency of scrubber for (as submicron particle) (%) andamounts after (TBq)90
1.18E-04

1.72E-03

Removal Efficiency of pre-filter and HEPA filter (2 stages) (%)
and amounts after (TBq)

90 (prefilter), 99.97 (HEPA filter each)⑦

The flow rate and batch hours

1566m3/hr⑧

Emission rate (Bq/cm3)
Discharge limit (outside of facility site boundary) (Bq/cm3)⑥

4.95E-06

4.46E-14

1.06E-12

1.55E-11

4.28E-13

1.15E-11

1.67E-10

5.00E-06

2.00E-05

3.00E-05

62hr

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD) (13/13)• The processing schedule was examined to calculate Plant Efficiency (throughput)

First waste retrieval for second ICVcontainer starts when the continuous
feeding to first ICV container has
finished, that is, 77.5 hour later the sameactivity as first ICV container (77.5 issum of numbers underlined in the tablebelow and 2 hours release and loadout)
Initial waste receipt part of staging.
Processing Activities

228 Hours (Start to Finish) Some activities in Parallel

Container Assembly and Staging

17 hours

Initial Waste Receipt

4 hours(2.5 hours for vessel access etc.
+1.5 hours for first dry and wet waste retrieval) (Part of Staging)

Loading and Processing

106 hours(20 hours for initial waste feeding to melter (5 times of waste receipt)+ 48hours for continuous waste feeding to melter(continuous feeding starts 6 hours later initial feeding completed)+62 hours for melting (mostly in parallel to continuous feeding)+24 hours for active cooling etc.)

Container Decontamination Sealing Survey

101.5 hours (96 hours for static cooling)

Release and Loadout

2 hours

Maximum (2-Melter) Plant Throughput

77.5 hours per container

Total Operating Efficiency

83% (Annually 63 days for maintenance etc. estimated)

Annual Plant Throughput Rate

93 containers per year

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

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6. GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Preliminary Conceptual Design (PCD)(Summary)
1. A scale that contains 10 tons of vitrified glass was selected as an ICVTM container (Melter and disposal
container) . A 4-electrode Melter and bottom-up melting method were adopted.
Considering the melting process, subsequent container cooling and treatment time, two melt locations were
installed. (melting station: ICVTM container and peripheral facilities (waste supply, off-gas treatment, power
supply, etc.) are connected to perform melting process).
During melting and cooling the container at the one station, another container can be under preparation.
2. The plant can produce one vitrified waste form every 77.5 hours and 93 vitrified waste form per year. (Thewastes in the current 789 Kurion adsorption vessels and 188 SARRY adsorption vessels can be treated in one
year.)
3. Preparatory work before the melting operation of the ICVTM container can be carried out in the green area
where there is no radiation source nor risk of contamination. After the preparation is completed, the container
is remotely moved to the melt station on the rail and installed.
4. A dry method and a wet method were examined for retrieval of the waste to be treated from the adsorption
vessel, and their combination was adopted. The transfer and feed system of the retrieved waste to melter
were examined.
5. The results of the engineering-scale melt test were reflected to the operation (melting process) method ofmelter.
6. A sintered metal filter was adopted in the first stage of the off-gas treatment system from the Melter.
Furthermore, a high Cs retention rate of the vitrified waste form was ensured by a method of recycling the fineparticles captured and collected by the filter into the Melter.
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7. Assessments of GeoMeltICVTM Plant PCD :Safety Assessment (1/2)
A.
B.

Purpose:
1. Provide example US regulation “framework” for how to develop a future “Safety Basis”* for the GeoMelt Vitrification Plant
2. Describe the method for developing the Safety Analysis from conceptual to final design
Scope:
1. A preliminary study based on U.S. regulations and guidance from other GeoMelt projects (see table below)
2. A recommendation for the level of analysis and review necessary for conducting a future formal Safety Analysis
3. Identifies some key hazards and accident scenarios that could affect the safety of the treatment plant.
4. Provides corrective measures to mitigate or eliminate specific hazards
Not a Safety Analysis Report (SAR) since the design is in a preliminary conceptual stage. The SAR will be developed during futuredetailed design.
Regulatory and Guidance of USA

・ At the stage of pre-conceptual design, it isconcluded that there would be no problem on
the compliance with Japanese domestic
regulations (the Law for the regulations of
Nuclear source material, Nuclear fuel material
and reactors, Radiation hazard prevention law,etc.), and especially with Rule for safety of the
facilities and protection of the specific nuclear
fuel material of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Station nuclear reactor facilities
・ From now on, as the design work proceeds,
the study on the compliance with domestic
regulations will be performed in detail and withbroader extent and the design work will be
performed referring to the plan of Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Specified nuclear
facility.

Criteria

Hazard Analysis

US DOE

Guidance

DOE-STD-3009-2014, Preparation ofNonreactor Nuclear Facility
Center for Chemical Process Safety’s
Documented Safety Analysis [Ref. 7] Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation
DOE-STD-1189-2008, Integration of Procedures, Part I [Ref. 3]
Safety Into the Design Process [Ref. DOE-HDBK-1224-2018, Hazard and8]
Accident Analysis Handbook [Ref. 4]

DOE-STD-3009-2014, Preparation ofNonreactor Nuclear Facility
Documented Safety Analysis [Ref. 7]
DOE-STD-3014-2006, Accident Analysis
DOE-STD-1189-2008, Integration of
for Aircraft Crash into Hazardous Facilities
Safety Into the Design Process [Ref.
[Ref. 5]
Accident Analysis 8]
DOE-HDBK-1224-2018, Hazard and
DOE-STD-1020-2012, Natural
Accident Analysis Handbook [Ref 4]
Phenomena Hazards Analysis andDesign Criteria for DOE Facilities[Ref. 9]HazardControl
HazardCategorization

DOE-STD-3009-2014, Preparation of DOE G 423.1-1B, Implementation Guide
Nonreactor Nuclear Facility
for Use in Developing Technical Safety
Documented Safety Analysis
Requirements
DOE-STD-1189-2008, Integration of DOE-STD-1186-2004, Specific
Safety Into the Design Process
Administrative Controls. [Ref.11]
DOE-STD-1027-92 [Ref.10]

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD :Safety Assessment (2/2)
Example GeoMelt ICVTM Plant Hazards

GeoMelt ICVTM Plant
Areas with “Materials
at Risk (Radioactive
materials etc.)”

Possible Energy Sources

Natural or External
Events•••••Waste Vessel Processing Area
Feed Transfer System
ICV Melt Station
Off-gas Treatment System
Wastewater Treatment Area

• Gravity• Flammable gas (propane)• Radiolysis• High heat

• Residual energy in the melt pool
• Electrical• Pressure (scrubber water, air)• Flowing air entraining waste• Landslide, earthquake, tsunami, floods, etc.
• Aircraft crash, vehicle accident, utility breakage,building collapse, explosion• Common causes (loss of electrical, air, water, staff)

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7. Assessments of GeoMeltICVTM Plant PCD:
Operation and Maintainability Assessment (1/2)
A.

Purpose:1.
Evaluate the proposed GeoMelt ICVTM plant to:a.
Identify potential failure mechanisms that could degrade its operation or hinder maintenanceb.
Provide proactive steps to prevent or minimize the failure mechanism
2.
Ensure the plant performs to its highest possible level of performance, safety and efficiency
Scope:
1.
Systems directly related to the GeoMelt ICV process including Vitrification and Waste Retrieval systems.
2.
Three Project phases are evaluated:a.
Designb.
Build (Manufacture)c.
Commissioning

B.

Area

Key component

Key concern

ICV Container Preparation Area

ICV Container and Lid
Silica Sand and Glass Frit
Refractory Liner and In-melt TCs
Starter Path
Electrodes

Container Integrity
Electrode Support
Starter Path Placement

ICV Melt Station

Pre-Melt Readiness
Feed Addition and Melt Startup
Pressure and Flow Sensors
Electrode Contactors
IR Camera

Remote Process Line Connecting
Flexible Connection Failure
Proper Startup and Feeding
Management Decontamination andPrepare for Transport
Process Monitoring Control
Post-Melt Port Plugging

Off-gas Treatment System

Sintered Metal Filter (SMF)
Scrubber and Recirculation System
OGTS Heaters
HEPA Filter
OGTS FansLong term reliability
Filter and Process Line Cleaning
Periodic Filter Change and MaintenanceRedundancy of critical components

Waste Vessel Retrieval Area

Vessel Access Systems
Vessel Retrieval Systems
Remote Manipulator Arm
Vacuum Tool
Water Spraying Tool

Long term reliability
Retrieval efficiency / vessel cleanliness
Radiation tolerance
Tool changeout

Wastewater Treatment Area

Wastewater Processing and Controls
Scrubber Liquid Water Quality Control
Water Filtration

Long term reliability
Water Separation Efficiency
Water Quality Maintenance
Filter monitoring and changeout

Feed Handling Area

Pneumatic Transfer System
Feed and Isolation Valves
Feed Hoppers and Receivers

Dust Management
Feed Line plugging/caking

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

Glass Containment
Glass Processing

Decontamination and Prepare forTransport
ICV Container Port Plugging and Passive
Cooling
Decontamination and Lid Fixative
Container Dose Survey
ICV Container Shields

Transfer Line Erosion

Transfer Line velocity

65

7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Operation and Maintainability Assessment (2/2)
a. Design phase• It is necessary to identify potential failure mechanisms and take steps to eliminate the mechanism or provide methods to mitigate
or minimize the consequences.
• Of special consideration are those areas relating to process components whose failure and subsequent replacement would causea significant disruption in plant operations.
• The design should also consider maintenance of failed components by incorporating features to allow movement of thecomponent to lower radiation/contamination areas, where possible.
• Certain components are essential for safe operation of the plant; and will require dedicated systems that are physically andelectrically separate from non-safety class systems.
• Redundancy of critical components and safety related devices should be specified, where possible.
• The system design must also eliminate or reduce hazards to the greatest extent practical using the radiation safety principle of
ALARA, (As Low as Reasonably Achievable) in all cases.

b. Build (manufacture) phase• It is critical that appropriate quality levels are maintained to ensure operability and maintainability, and that other key
characteristics are maintained.
• Proposed manufacturing facilities must be reviewed by quality assurance personnel to ensure their capabilities.
• Of special consideration are those systems that impact plant operations and those that are safety related.

c. Commissioning phase• It is necessary to ensure all facility and support personnel have proper O&M training and have demonstrated proficiency in theirassigned duties.
• Processes and procedures must be validated, and evidence of key maintenance activities must be demonstrated.
• The commissioning phase is also a unique opportunity to obtain baseline operational data that can be used for future equipment
performance comparison• A detailed spares assessment is also performed to ensure appropriate spare parts are on hand prior to “hot” operations.
• Routine maintenance activities should be practiced during this phase to ensure minimal interruptions to operations.
• Preventative maintenance should occur on critical moving parts (fans, pumps, agitators) to ensure optimal performance.

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Economic Efficiency Assessment (1/5)
A. Purpose: Evaluate the advantage of the GeoMelt ICVTM Plant on economic efficiency comparing with Continuous pour method.
B. Scope of Areas Evaluated:
1. Batch mode operation 2. Volume reduction 3. Waste loading and processing of multiple types of waste
4. Consumables
5. Secondary wastes and pre-treatment requirements
6. Plant efficiency and throughput
7. Use of proprietary shield panels
8. System simplicity and reliability

Comparison of Batch to Continuous Pour:
Batch method: Treat the waste in the melter batchwise. Vitrified glass is disposed together with the melter.
Continuous pour method: Pour the waste in form of melted glass out the bottom of the melter into the canister. Vitrified glass
is disposed with the canister
Relative advantages of batch mode operation:
A. Batch mode means each ICV container is a new melter and melt chemistry can be uniquely tailored for optimized
processing of a particular waste material, then subsequently altered for a different waste material in another batch.
Continuous flow down means one melter only, but many glass containers.
B. Larger treatment vessels are possible because of good heat efficiency and vital melt convection inside container, which
improves throughput and process efficiency.
C. One time-use refractory and its high heat tolerance allows higher melt temperature, which allows for silica-richformulations , which allows higher waste loading.
D. Can accept recycle of large secondary waste streams (HEPA, process water filters, etc.) because of large lid size andpossibility of uniquely tailored melt chemistry. (Special recycle melt with current design).
E.
Container malfunction will not shut down process (such as malfunctioning sensor) – simply move offline until problem is
cured as container transfer (moving) is designed as part of routine operation.
F.
One melt/treat/dispose container reduces handling of dangerous nuclear material.
G. Simple = Safe → No bubblers, agitators, pour spouts, canister handling devices.
H. Disposable melter/disposal container uses common materials that are less expensive than traditional melter glass
canisters.
Relative disadvantages:
A. Change out ICV container for each batch. → This increases risk of connection point failure. Careful and robust design,using verification R/D, will make risk small and manageable.
B. Some consumables are disposed with each melt. → A small part of overall cost, and optimization studies during design canidentify most economical methods and materials.
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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Economic Efficiency Assessment (2/5)
Volume reduction

 A natural result of vitrification due to the low-density waste and glass former materials being converted into ahigh-density glass during melting.
•
Estimated volume of Kurion + SARRY waste to treat = 1,200 m3.
Estimated volume of GeoMelt ICVTM product after treatment = 360 m3.
••
Equates to a 70% waste to glass volume reduction.
The current storage of waste at 1F (489 culverts = 17,291 m3).
••
The proposed storage of fully shielded ICV containers (97 containers = 1756 m3).
•
The reduction is even greater at (17,291 m3-1756 m3)/17,291 m3 = 89.8% storage volume reduction.
 Reasons why GeoMelt ICVTM process has high volume reduction:
The proposed 10t ICV container provides a higher glass/container ratio than smaller waste containers.
••
GeoMelt operates at higher temperatures (1250-1600 °C), enabling a higher waste loading in the glass
than continuous pour low temperature (1000-1200 °C) melters.
•
Rectangular ICV container allows more efficient storage configuration than round containers.

Relative Waste Loading
•
•
•
•
•

Custom glass formulations and crucible and engineering-scale testing have maximized 1F waste loading
during the Subsidy Project, while preserving glass quality.
Blending different 1F wastes significantly improves waste loading, decreasing the total amount of disposal
glass produced.
Waste loading of up to 85%, depending on which wastes are combined.
PNNL findings showing how blending and higher glass temperature allows greater waste loading than low
temperature melters (Slide 46).
Continuous pour melters cannot handle high heat and therefore have lower glass waste loading.

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Economic Efficiency Assessment (3/5)
Relative Cost of Consumables (including ICV container)• The ICV container is used only once as the melter, it is also the transport and disposal container, providing
simplicity and cost savings• A 10t ICV container is expected to be less expensive around 1/7 to 1/2 to fabricate than a typical US HLW waste
canister, and it holds over 4 times more glass (3.85 m3 vs 0.89 m3) .
• Although more consumables (silica sand, refractory, thermocouples, electrodes) are used with GeoMelt batch
operation, these consumables are relatively inexpensive, as shown above. Even more so when compared to theinitial capital cost, maintenance cost, and disposal cost of a continuous pour melter, including its complex
pouring and canister handling and lidding equipment.

Relative Production of Secondary Waste• GeoMelt ICVTM process can accept many sizes and types of secondary waste• GeoMeltICVTM Plant generates secondary waste such as bulk wastes, process water filters, HEPA filters, PPE, ion
exchange media from process water cleaning• Special ICV melt for secondary waste treatment can be set aside to load and treat accumulated secondary
wastes in GeoMelt ICVTM plant.

Pre-Treatment Requirements• No pre-treatment of planned 1F wastes needed except dewatering to ensure proper waste transfer• For the secondary waste the pretreatment such as shredding or blending is easy.

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Economic Efficiency Assessment (4/5)
Relative Energy Transfer (efficiency of electrical energy added to the glass)• Joule (resistive) heating melters have high throughput due to efficient energy transfer, through waste
and glass.
• Other melter design (inductive, external heating, etc.) are less efficient due to inherent heat transfer(energy) losses.

Melter Replacement Schedule and Cost

• GeoMelt ICV melter is replaced in hours and is normal procedure and part of schedule.
• Continuous pour melter needs several months to be replaced and operation needs to be shut down
completely during this period. Also, it is estimated that dismantlement, transportation, disposal, etc. will
cost around $4M -$12M (for waste treatment facilities in US).
• Relative Operating Efficiency.
Simple and easy replacement and maintenance melter dramatically improves total operating efficiency.

Use of proprietary shield panels• Removable shield panels reduce fabrication cost and handling difficulties compared to making thicker
ICV steel walls• Shield panels allow more efficient storage configuration by allowing removal of inside shielding that is
not needed (adjacent containers provide the shielding).

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste70

7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Economic Efficiency Assessment (5/5)
System Reliability
Simple and Reliable - Design is made simple on purpose. This avoids possible failure mechanisms and increases
life expectancy.

•.

Few mechanical failure points.

•

Key components have redundancy (electrodes, offgas fan, HEPA filters, etc.).

•

Melter can be easily removed if problem occurs, allowing process to continue.

•

Passive air cooling of ICV container eliminates complex active cooling mechanisms used with other melters.

•

Basic ICV design has been used in many shapes and sizes over the last 20years and has been continually
improved along the way.

•

Technology Readiness Level (TRL) can be evaluated to be high.

250 kg Engineering-Scale
System - USA

500 kg System - UK

10 tons System - Japan

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

50 tons System - USA

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Waste Retrieval and Handling Assessment (1/5)
Purpose: Evaluate ① Waste Retrieval, ② Material Handling and ③ Feeding Systems
Requirements to each system①Retrieval: Removal of waste from their containers (retrieval).
②Materials Handling: Transporting these materials for pretreatment (water addition or removal and blending with glass-formers.
③Feeding: Conveying the blended waste into the melter (ICV container).

① Requirements Common to Dry and Wet Waste Retrieval:••••

Retrieval of waste from vessel to transfer piping.
Remotely operated.
Waste removed until no visible waste remains in vessel as indicated by wand camera.
Contamination control.

Dry Retrieval Requirement:•

Dust control.

② Materials Handling System Requirements:••••

Residual visible waste
not removed using dry
retrieval will be removed
by wet retrieval.
.

Wet Retrieval Requirement:•

Liquid control.

Remotely operated.
Conveyance of dry and wet retrieved waste through transfer piping to waste receiver.
Dewatering wet retrieved waste to 20 ±5 wt% before transferred to waste receiver.
Conveyance of waste from receivers to to blender hopper.

③ Feed System Requirements:
•
•
•
•
•

Remotely operated.
Blending waste and GFMs (glass former materials) in blender hopper.
Ability to add water to blender hopper to achieve 20 ±5 wt% water content.
Feed blended waste to ICV container.
Feed TOF and silica sand at the end of the melt.
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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Waste Retrieval and Handling Assessment (2/5)① Waste retrieval: Comparison between two systems(a) “VERSYDRY” (Vessel Retrieval System Dry) = Dry Vacuum Retrieval.
(b) “VERSYWET” (Vessel Retrieval System Wet) = Wet Sluicing Retrieval.
1) Similarities:(1) Both systems uses a hollow rigid pipe
(wand) to vacuum waste from waste vessels.
(2) Both wands have a lighted camera to see
outside the wand into the vessel.
(3) Both systems remove waste by vacuuming.
2) Differences:(1) The wet system pumps water down
the wand with end features consisting ofsluice nozzles for water jetting dislodging
of material.
(2) The dry system blows air down the wandwith end features consisting of air jets anda grinding plate for dislodging material.

PCD waste retrieval, materials handling, and feed
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste73

7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Waste Retrieval and Handling Assessment (3/5)① Waste retrieval： Retrieval Operations••

A Remote Manipulator controls the Waste Vessel Access Tooling which removes and reinstalls thevessel shield cover, access the waste vessel through the top flange and installs a plug after thewaste has been retrieved.
For SARRY vessels, the Waste Vessel Access Tooling removes the cover and lead shot (SARRY) andinstalls the plug after the waste has been retrieved.
Shown below:(i) Removing Kurion vessel top flange with Flange Removal Tool.
(ii) Gripping pipe.
(iii) Shearing pipe.
- Once the pipe is sheared the vessel may be accessed with the Retrieval Suction Wand.

(i)

(ii)

Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste

(iii)

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Waste Retrieval and Handling Assessment (4/5)① Waste Retrieval: Tools and Equipment(a) Dry Retrieval Wand: (see the figure right upper (i))• A Remote Manipulator controls the Dry Retrieval Wand.
• The wand is a rotating hollow pipe which vacuums wastefrom the vessels.
• The wand end blows air out from one side while vacuuming
waste up the other side.(see the figure right lower (ii))• The wand end also may have a grinding plate to help
dislodge material.
• A down-wand camera is used to visually see the waste in
the vessel.
• Dry waste is moved to Dry Waste Receiver by dilute phasepneumatic conveyor.
(b) Wet Retrieval Wand:• A Remote Manipulator controls the Wet Retrieval
Wand.
• The wand is a rotating hollow pipe which vacuums
waste from the vessels.
• The wand end pumps water out from one side
while vacuuming waste up the other side.
• A down-wand camera is used to visually see thewaste in the vessel.
• Wet waste is moved to Air/Waste/Water Separator
by dilute phase pneumatic conveyor.
Project of Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F Water Treatment Secondary Waste(i)(i) Dry Retrieval Wand(ii)(ii) Dry Retrieval Wand End Features75

7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Waste Retrieval and Handling Assessment (5/5)① Waste Retrieval: Selection and designation of the system•

Dry retrieval is simpler and faster than the wet retrieval method.

•

Dry retrieval is preferred but the PCD plant has have both.

•

The PCD Mass and Energy Balance assumes throughputs consistent with 75% dry retrieval and 25% wet
retrieval.

② Materials Handling:
•

•
•
•

Bulk Bag Unloader/Conveyors are dilute phase pneumatic conveyors which move:-glass-formers to the Blender Hopper.
-silica sand to the Silica/Glass Frit Receiver.
-glass Frit to the Silica/Glass Frit Receiver.
Separated waste is moved from the Air/Waste/Water Separator to the Wet Waste Hopper by
chain drag conveyor.
Waste is moved from the Dry Waste Receiver and the Wet Waste Hopper to the Blender Hopper
through a rotary valve by gravity.
Blended waste is moved from the Blender Hopper to the Blended Waste Receiver through a rotary
valve by dilute phase pneumatic conveyor.

③ Feeding:••Waste is fed from the Blended Waste Receiver to the melter through a rotary and gate valve
system by dilute phase pneumatic conveyor.
Silica sand and glass frit is fed from the Silica/Glass Frit Receiver through a rotary and gate valve
system by dilute phase pneumatic conveyor.

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Product Package Assessment (1/2)
Purpose• The purpose of the Product Package Assessment is to provide detailed description of the physical configuration of
the final waste package (the PCD GeoMelt® ICV™ container).

Physical Description
•
•
•
•
•

The ICV container is designed to hold 10 tons of glass.
The overall product package (glass, cast refractory, refractory silica sand, the steel ICV Container and lid) weighs
30,212 kg.
With the removable modular shield panels included, the product package weighs 65,340 kg.
ICV container exterior dimensions: 2.62 m high and 2.23 m x 2.23 m wide.
Glass monolith dimensions: 1.57 m x 1.57 m x 1.57 m.

1.57

ICV Container Lid Detail (Top View)

ICV Container and Internals (Side View)

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Product Package Assessment (2/2)
Soundness of ICV Container Because of Short-Term Thermal Influences:••

The ICV container does not receive significant thermal influences from the melt process because it isinsulated by the refractory. The PCD included thermal analysis which indicated the maximum steel
temperature of 400 °C which is below the steel softening temperature of 571 °C.
The maximum external temperature from radiolytic decay will be 40.5 °C.

Removable Shield Panels *:
•
•
•
•
•

Removable panels: 120 mm thick carbon steel (or 60 mm
thick carbon steel-encased lead).
Installed on mounting points on the outside of the container.
These are installed in the Zone 1 Shield Install Location before
the container is moved to the Zone 3 Container Release Area.
Containers can be stored next to each other and stacked.
Panels are removed from adjacent faces before
adjacent/stacked storage.

Thermal Analysis 1 Hour after Melt
Completion (400 °C Maximum steel
temperature)

Contact Dose Rate•

Shielded ICV container: 0.9 mSv/hr.
* VNS Patent ref. (US 10,311,989 B2)

ICV Containers (8) with
Removable Shield Panels
Thermal Analysis of Radiolytic Decay Heat
(40.5 °C Maximum steel temperature)

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Glass Performance Assessment (1/2)
Based on the data regarding the chemical durability and so on of the GeoMelt vitrified waste from theengineering scale tests, the dissolution rate to the groundwater of the vitrified waste is evaluated.
● Comparison of the normalized mass loss of Na for engineering melt tests 1 to 7 and Na for reference glasses with
the normalized mass loss of B and Si for other leaching test results.
● The dissolution characteristic of vitrified waste consists of 3 stages ; 1) initial dissolution rate-controlled stage, 2)
steady state stage closed to saturation and 3) accelerated corrosion caused by fast silicate mineral dissolution.
●

JSS A: Vitrified waste of liquid radioactive waste produced in ‘JSS Project’ performed by CRIEPI (Japan), NAGRA (Switzerland)
and SKB (Sweden) (1984-1988) C-31-3EC: Simulated vitrified waste of EC

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD:
Glass Performance Assessment (2/2)
The long-term dissolution rate of various vitrified wastes for HLW geological disposal has been calculated based on
the leaching rate after saturation of the dissolved silicic acid concentration.
● The long-term dissolution rate for Japanese HLW disposal program (reference case) at assumed repository
temperature of 60℃ was calculated to be 1E-3 g/m2･d from regression expression shown in this Figure.
●

MCC-1 test results (shown in the figures in page 37 and 79) confirms that GeoMelt glass is more chemically
durable than HLW glass● The dissolution rate of the GeoMelt ICVTM vitrified waste is equivalent to the long-term dissolution rate (1E-3
g/m2･d ) which uses to evaluate HLW vitrified waste and high radionuclide containment function is expected.
●

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7. Assessments of GeoMelt ICVTM Plant PCD : Summary

1. In the safety assessment, the method to organize plant safety basis along with US regulatory guidance
was considered, and the materials at risk and possible energy source were identified. It is consideredthat there is no problem in compliance with Japanese domestic laws and regulations, but a wide rangeof specific studies are required according to the future design progress.
2. Potential failures that may reduce operability or interfere with maintenance were identified in theoperability / maintainability evaluation, and preventive procedures were summarized.
3. The economic advantage of the batch operation method, which is a feature of GeoMelt ICVTM, wasclarified in the economic efficiency assessment. Furthermore, it was shown that it is economicallysuperior in terms of consumables and secondary waste.
4. Dry retrieval and wet retrieval system were compared in the waste retrieval and handling assessment,
and the optimum combination of them was determined.
5. The overall structure of the product package (ICV)TM (container containing vitrified glass treated bymelting the waste) was summarized in the product package assessment, including the shielding
installed on the outside.
6. In the glass performance assessment, it was confirmed that the GeoMelt ICVTM vitrified waste form
has a dissolution rate equivalent to the long-term dissolution rate (1E-3 g/m2・d) used in the evaluationof the HLW vitrified waste form and has a high radionuclide confinement function.

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8. Summary
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

7.

Engineering-scale Melts 4 through 7 on waste simulants representing the bulk of the 1F secondary water
treatment wastes successfully demonstrated high waste loadings (67% to 79%), high volume reduction (74% to76%, with very low cesium emissions (corresponding to 97.72 to 99.44% retention in glass), and excellent glass
durability compared to Japanese HLW reference glasses.
Engineering-scale Melt 8 successfully demonstrated the GeoMelt remote restarting method after emergency
shutdown and assumed accidents/events and processing 1F soil in place of zeolite as the primary glass former
for the melt.
New glass formulation and crucible testing of more 1F wastes resulted in verification that GeoMelt isapplicable to the large part of the 1F water treatment secondary wastes.
PNNL’s modeling of the effects of waste variability and melt temperature supports the benefits of the waste
blending scheme and high melt temperature to reduce the total number of vitrified waste packages for disposal.
The research on the elucidation of quantitative and visible aspects of Cs capture in the cold cap verified the cold
cap management techniques.
A detailed and comprehensive preliminary conceptual design for a GeoMelt ICV plant at 1F has been completed.
The plant designed is equipped with two melters of 4 electrode with the capacity of 10 ton/batch each and can
produce one vitrified glass every 77.5 hours, that is 93 vitrified glass annually. The design has clarified the waste
retrieval/handling system with both dry and wet method, melter feeding system and off-gas treatment system,etc.
The pathway to the GeoMelt ICV Plant Safety Analysis Report (SAR) was studied, and potential hazards wereidentified. The method to develop the basis of safety of the plant was considered. The GeoMelt ICV Plant
Operation and Maintainability and Economic Efficiency Assessments ensure the preliminary conceptual plant
performs to its highest possible level of performance and economic efficiency. The GeoMelt ICV Plant Waste
Retrieval and Handling Assessment assessed preliminary conceptual waste retrieval and handling, and theProduct Package Assessment provided a detailed description of the physical configuration of the final waste
package. Glass Performance Assessment confirmed that the glass has high radionuclide containment function.

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Finally

That is the Results of the Holistic Evaluation of GeoMelt® ICV™ for Treatment of 1F
Water Treatment Secondary Waste conducted as Subsidiary project ofDecommissioning and Contaminated Water Management (Fiscal Year 2019-2020)(Research and Development of Processing and Disposal of Solid Waste)

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