Glass cured body pouring. Courtesy of the National Atomic Energy Agency
Beijing, September 12 (China News Network) (Ma Shuaisha, Wang Shuying, Song Zhixin) reporters learned from the State Atomic Energy Agency that China's first high-level radioactive waste liquid glass curing facility was officially put into operation in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province on the 11th, marking a breakthrough in China's zero high-level waste liquid processing capacity.
This is a landmark project at the back end of China's nuclear industry chain, and its operation marks that China has achieved a breakthrough in zero high-discharge liquid processing capacity, becoming one of the few countries in the world with high-discharge liquid glass curing technology, which is of landmark significance for the safe and green development of China's nuclear industry.
At the commissioning ceremony site, the joint command of the project verified and evaluated that since the project started the hot test on August 27 and produced the first tank of radioactive waste liquid solidified vitreous, the product quality is controllable, the operation of the facility is stable, the relevant technical indicators have reached the international advanced level, and the facility has the operating conditions and can be transferred to the official operation.
Glass curing products are temporarily stored. Courtesy of the National Atomic Energy Agency
It is understood that radioactive waste treatment is the last link in the safe utilization of nuclear energy, of which the most difficult and technical content is the treatment of high-release waste liquid. The curing of radioactive waste glass is to mix and melt the radioactive waste liquid and glass raw materials at a temperature of 1100 degrees or higher, and form a glass body after cooling. Due to the low leaching rate and high strength of the vitreous body, it can effectively contain radioactive materials and form a stable form, which is the most advanced waste liquid treatment method in the world.
Its core technology and difficulties lie in the need for glass curing formulas with high tolerance rate and good stability, and the glass body formed can contain radioactive substances for more than 1,000 years; it needs a furnace that is resistant to high temperatures of more than 1150 degrees and an annual corrosion rate of less than 15 mm to ensure glass melting conditions; it needs automated, long-distance operating system equipment, and it needs a strong industrial and manufacturing foundation to support it. Previously, only the United States, France, Germany and other countries in the world had mastered the relevant technologies.
It is reported that the project was approved by the State Atomic Energy Agency in 2004, adopting an international cooperation model, jointly designed by China and Germany, and the China National Nuclear Corporation Sichuan Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., which belongs to the China National Nuclear Corporation, is responsible for the construction, and many units participate in collaborative research.
After the facility is put into operation, it is expected that hundreds of cubic meters of high-level waste liquid can be safely treated every year, and the vitreous bodies produced by the treatment will be buried in the disposal depot hundreds of meters deep underground, so as to achieve the goal of isolating radioactive materials from the biosphere, achieve complete safety, and provide a solid guarantee for the use of nuclear energy.
Liu Yongde, chief engineer of the State Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview that in the next step, the IAEA will further optimize the layout of the nuclear environmental protection industry, continue to improve the nuclear environmental protection capability system, accelerate the process of radioactive waste treatment, and provide a strong guarantee for achieving the goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality". (End)
Source: China News Network