Research Progress of Noble Metal Deposition in Vitrification of High-Level Liquid Wastes

Abstract

The noble metal deposition will occur to block the discharge port and cause damage to the bottom electrode of the furnace when the high-level liquid waste from power reactor spent fuel reprocessing, rich in noble metals, were vitrified. This paper summarizes the related solutions, mainly including furnace structure improvement and the separation and recovery of noble metal, by investigating noble metal deposition phenomena and problems in the vitrification of high-level liquid waste at home and abroad. The paper points out that for the high content of noble metals in spent fuels with deep burnup, the combination of above two solutions must be considered on the basis of studying the deposition behavior of precious metals in the furnace. The research in this paper can provide a certain reference for the operation of domestic high-level liquid waste glass vitrification.

Keywords

• high-level liquid waste
• vitrification
• noble metal deposition