Product/Service

Nuclear Waste Vitrification

Source: Philadelphia Mixing Solutions
These mixers are designed to operate in High Level and Low Level radioactive "Caves" where the contents of underground storage tanks are being converted to "Glass Logs" or "Concrete Logs"...

Philadelphia Mixing Solutions has been supplying mixers to the Nuclear Waste Clean-up effort for over forty years. The stored Nuclear Wastes are the legacy of 45 years of plutonium production. These mixers are designed to operate in High Level and Low Level radioactive "Caves" where the contents of underground storage tanks are being converted to "Glass Logs" or "Concrete Logs". This equipment is subjected to the highest level of Quality Assurance.

Currently our equipment is the primary source of agitation at the following sites:

  • Savannah River, Aiken, SC
  • Japan (PMSL is the only American supplier to have any equipment at this site.)

Latest Project: PMSL was awarded the contract in "2003" for the agitation equipment for the Hanford Nuclear Facility in Richland, WA. This project is currently in the design/build phase. The first eight mixers are scheduled to ship by the end of 2006.

Key design features:

  • The mixers are designed for a 5, 10, or 40 year lives as in the case of the Japanese Installation.
  • The mixers are operated and maintained with the use of robots.
  • 95+% waste slurry uniformity is required to ensure no "hot spots" occur in the tanks and for down stream processing.
  • Reduced scale and full scale testing are part of the scope of supply to prove proper agitation levels are being achieved.
  • The waste slurries and glass frit are extremely abrasive and special materials were tested and used to meet the specified design life.
  • As would be expected, these agitators are engineered, manufactured, and inspected to the highest standards available in the world today.