Safety Issues of Russian EP-500 Ceramic Melter and the Feasibility of Its Usage to Vitrify PU-Containing Materials

Summary

To resolve a problem of radioactive waste treatment in Russia, a complex for the vitrification of high-level wastes (HLW) in a ceramic melter, EP-500, was designed, constructed, and put into use during 1986-97 at the power unit, Mayak. This paper gives a short description of the facility and identifies worst-case and emergency situations that result from final failures of the melters, as well as ways and methods of increasing safety and reliability of the vitrification process that will be realized in the advanced melters, EP-500/3,4. By the way, from the standpoint of nuclear safety, we assess the applicability of the ceramic melter for immobilizing Pu-containing materials. We propose to use melters with SnO₂electrodes, such as the “Vertical Super Melter” (VSM), which has a number of advantages in the field of nuclear safety to attain the same objectives.