Preliminary ILAW Formulation Algorithm Description (Rev. 1)

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP), has contracted with Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) to design, construct, and commission the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site (DOE 2000). This plant is designed to operate for 40 years and treat roughly 50 million gallons of mixed hazardous high-level waste (HLW) stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site. The process involves separating the high-level and low-activity waste (LAW) fractions through filtration, leaching, Cs ion exchange, and precipitation. Each fraction will be separately vitrified into borosilicate waste glass. This report documents the initial algorithm for use by Hanford WTP in batching LAW and glass-forming chemicals (GFCs) in the LAW melter feed preparation vessel (MFPV). Algorithm inputs include the chemical analyses of the pretreated LAW in the concentrate receipt vessel (CRV), the volume of the MFPV heel, and the compositions of individual GFCs. In addition to these inputs, uncertainties in the LAW composition and processing parameters are included in the algorithm.