A new electrical furnace for vitrification of radioactive waste has been launched at Russia’s production association (PA) Mayak in Ozersk. All work on the EP-250/6 furnace was carried out by Mayak specialists.
Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev took part in the launch ceremony via video link. As part of his welcoming speech, he noted: “In the coming years, we will not just step into the next decade with a nuclear energy development programme in the country. We will also step into Generation IV energy systems – into a new technological structure with a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The work that Mayak is doing is part of this ambitious agenda.”
He added: “Our most important task is the complete reprocessing of used nuclear fuel. We extract all useful substances from it, put them into secondary circulation, and safely store everything that cannot be re-used. Vitrification is today the most effective and environmentally friendly way to manage high-level waste. And the competencies of Mayak team can hardly be overestimated. This is already the sixth specialised vitrification furnace built here. The coordinated work of all divisions of the enterprise has made it possible to significantly expand our production capacity for processing high-level waste.”
Physically present at the ceremony were Rosatom’s Deputy Head for Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Solutions, Andrey Nikipelov, and Rosatom’s Director for State Policy on Radioactive Waste, Used Nuclear Fuel and Decommissioning of Nuclear & Radiation Hazardous Facilities, Vasily Tinin, along with other Rosatom officials.
Before the launch of the new equipment, the Director General of PA Mayak, Andrey Poroshin, emphasised that a large amount of work had been completed at the enterprise. “The new EP-250/6 furnace was installed in the operating workshop by the Mayak team. This saved time and cost while maintaining high safety standards. The implementation of the project will increase the efficiency of the enterprise to deal with high-level waste – the most complex and dangerous type of radioactive material.”
To date, Russia has accumulated about 30,000 tonnes of used fuel and processing it is one of Rosatom’s strategic tasks. A complete system of industrial production for processing used fuel is being established. During processing, valuable components such as uranium and plutonium are extracted from used fuel, which are then returned to the fuel cycle. Only about 4% of used fuel by weight is real waste. The most active wastes are then subjected to vitrification.
In July, the second stage of the Experimental Demonstration Centre was launched at the Mining & Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory). After it reaches its design capacity, the plant will be able to process about 200 tonnes of used fuel a year.
The industry programme for the development of radiochemical engineering in Russia is intended to become a driver for the development of a two-component nuclear energy system based on thermal and fast neutron reactors operating in a closed nuclear fuel cycle. Nuclear recycling technologies will make it possible to process irradiated fuel and use it to produce fresh fuel, radically reducing the volume of nuclear waste generated and the level of its activity, and also greatly expand the raw material base of nuclear energy using materials that are not currently part of the fuel cycle notably depleted uranium and plutonium.
