Operating experience during high-level waste vitrification at the West Valley Demonstration Project

This report provides a summary of operational experiences, component and system performance, and lessons learned associated with the operation of the Vitrification Facility (VF) at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP). The VF was designed to convert stored high-level radioactive waste (HLW) into a stable waste form (borosilicate glass) suitable for disposal in a federal repository. Following successful completion on nonradioactive test, HLW processing began in July 1995. Completion of Phase 1 of HLW processing was reached on 10 June 1998 and represented the processing of 9.32 million curies of cesium-137 (Cs-137) and strontium-90 (Sr-90) to fill 211 canisters with over 436,000 kilograms of glass. With approximately 85% of the total estimated curie content removed from underground waste storage tanks during Phase 1, subsequent operations will focus on removal of tank heel wastes