Cold Crucible Inductive Melting Technology – Application to Vitrification and Ceramization of High Level and Actinide Wastes

Abstract:

Cold crucible inductive melting is a promising method for production of high-temperature materials. The method is based on direct heating of conductive materials by high-frequency (105-107 Hz) electromagnetic field from an external source. Application of the CCIM to production of vitreous borosilicate and alumino/iron phosphate and ceramic waste forms such as Synroc and its varieties and pyrochlore, murataite and garnet-based ceramics has been successfully demonstrated. Currently a full-scale low level waste vitrification plant based on a 418 mm inner diameter cold crucibles energized from a 1.76MHz/160 kW generators is under operation at SIA Radon. This plant was used for demonstration of feasibility of cold crucible vitrification of Savannah River Site high-iron and high iron/aluminum high level wastes. Numerous ceramic and glass ceramic materials containing high level and actinide waste surrogates such as actinide and actinide/rare earth fractions of high level waste have been successfully produced in the Radon lab- and bench-scale cold crucible based units operated at 5.28 and 1.76 MHz. Large-scale cold crucibles may be applied for vitrification of liquid and solid low and high level wastes whereas small-scale cold crucible may be efficiently used for immobilization of actinide-bearing waste generated from advanced nuclear fuel cycle reprocessing.

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 73)
• Pages: 183-193
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.73.183
• Online since: October 2010
• Authors: Sergey V. Stefanovsky, Vladimir V. Lebedev, Alexander G. Ptashkin, Sergey A. Dmitriev, James C. Marra
• Keywords: Actinide, Ceramization, Cold Crucible, High Level Waste, Vitrification

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