The Efforts to Utilize High-Temperature Melting Technologies for ILLW and the Development of Guidelines for their Technical Assessment

A couple of domestic institutions have been investigating the application of vitrification technology to treat low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes in Korea. In the case that such investigations prove to be successful, it is expected that commercial vitrification plants will be constructed. The safety insuring on vitrification plants could not be compatible with criterion on radioactive waste management because the facilities are at high temperature and contain a variety of accommodations for the exhaust gases and residual products. Therefore, it is necessary to suggest a new strategy or modifications of criterion of radioactive waste management on considerations related with the vitrification technology. In order to ensure the safety of vitrification plants, a technical guideline or standard for design and operation of vitrification plants must be established too. A study on the safety assessment of vitrification plants in consideration with general items as an industrial facility, safety and technical requirements as a nuclear facility is needed to be ready before using and permitting them. Also, the stability of vitrified waste forms produced by vitrification plants must be analyzed to ensure their acceptance in final repositories, which includes chemical durability as one of the main considerable items. This paper introduces the status on the utilization of vitrification technology for treating LILW and efforts to develop technical guides with basic study results on chemical durability of forms.