Microwave heating for production of a glass bonded ceramic high-level waste form.

Argonne National Laboratory has developed a ceramic waste form to immobilize the salt waste from electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. The process is being scaled up to produce bodies of 100 Kg or greater. With conventional heating, heat transfer through the starting powder mixture necessitates long process times. Coupling of 2.45 GHz radiation to the starting powders has been demonstrated. The radiation couples most strongly to the salt occluded zeolite powder. The results of these experiments suggest that this ceramic waste form could be produced using microwave heating alone, or by using microwave heating to augment conventional heating