1 Introduction
The Committee on Electrometallurgical Techniques for DOE Spent Fuel Treatment is in the third phase of its continuing evaluation of the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) research and development program for electrometallurgical technology (EMT).1 As agreed, the committee will provide two reports before it submits its final report after the end of the ANL demonstration project. 2 The first of these, the present report, focuses on the processing technology and corresponding processing equipment utilized in ANL 's demonstration project. It responds to the part of the committee 's charge that requires ongoing evaluation of the scientific and technical progress of ANL's program on EMT for the treatment of DOE spent nuclear fuel.3
The committee's next report, to be released in summer 1999, will focus on the waste forms being developed by ANL. Although testing and characterization of the waste forms will not be completed as part of the demonstration project, DOE and ANL hope to make progress in that area during the time frame of the demonstration project. The next committee report will address whether tests on waste forms currently being performed by ANL are appropriate for the goal of qualifying waste forms for long-term storage in a geologic repository.
The committee's previous report4 responded to the other parts of its charge, examining the viability of electrometallurgical treatment technology in light of technical progress in other possible treatment technologies that might have occurred since the committee's 1995 report,5 and evaluating the criteria by which the success of the demonstration project will be judged.
1 |
Abbreviations and acronyms are defined in Appendix G. |
2 |
The schedule for these reports was developed in response to conversations between representatives from the Department of Energy – Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) and NRC staff. |
3 |
The committee's charge is given in Appendix A. |
4 |
Electrometallurgical Techniques for DOE Spent Fuel Treatment: Spring 1998 Status Report on Argonne National Laboratory's R&D Activity, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1998. |
5 |
An Assessment of Continued R&D into an Electrometallurgical Approach for Treating DOE Spent Nuclear Fuel, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1995. |