Commissioning and Cold Test of HLLW Vitrification Plant of China

Prior to radioactive operations, the Vitrification Plant of China (VPC) will implement a cold-commissioning plan or strategy that will include functional test, water test, simulant test and glass pouring test to not only test the process systems, auxiliary systems and melter performance, but also allow operators to increase facility operating experience and be familiar with remote handling in hot cells before introducing radioactive material into the plant. The process technique used is based on the German liquid fed ceramic-lined electric waste glass melter (LFCM) designed to process high level liquid waste (HLLW) containing highly noble metals (Ru, Rh, Pd). Several batches of simulants tests are performed and the operation data including melter temperature and initiating procedure are analyzed. A maximum process rate is determined according to the applied process parameters including the high operating temperature. And in different operating modes, including idling mode and operating mode, the effect of different feed rates on the formation of the cold cap and the temperature in different areas of the melter are investigated. The paper gives an overview about the current status of the VPC plant. The strategy of commissioning and cold test operations are described in detail.