[     News listing ](/en/news "  News listing")

 25 Sep. 2018 



 

 

 

**Veolia Nuclear Solutions will begin showcasing its patented GeoMelt® vitrification process’ ability to treat radioactive contaminated sodium wastes under a new agreement with the Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the managing contractor of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL).**

The agreement calls for Veolia Nuclear Solutions - Federal Services, to demonstrate the treatment capabilities on Fermi Drums. The demonstration is intended to show how Veolia Nuclear Solutions’ patented GeoMelt® In-Container Vitrification™ (ICV) system can safely treat metallic, non-bulk sodium contaminated waste, which is generated from the sodium coolant used in certain types of nuclear reactors. The innovative GeoMelt® process works by chemically converting the reactive metals to an inert oxide while also immobilizing radionuclides in a durable vitrified waste form. The sodium wastes will be treated in a batch process, with each batch generating a 10-ton monolith of obsidian-like waste for disposal.

   ![Sample vitrificated waste](/sites/g/files/dvc2436/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/image/2017/02/Sample-vitrificated-waste_0.jpg.webp?h=6f504635&itok=lqaOmOUK "Sample of vitrified waste")   



Treatment of the wastes will occur at the new GeoMelt® ICV system installed at the Perma-Fix Northwest facility in Richland, Washington, a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-licensed facility owned by Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. The design and installation of the system took nine months to complete and was funded by the two corporations.

“*We have a strategic, long-term plan to establish pathways for off-site treatment of difficult waste streams; using GeoMelt® to treat Fermi Drums is just one of them. We also intend to disposition a number of other inventories on the Environmental Liabilities Register, using this method,*” said Bob Miklos, director of Production Facilities and Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities at INL's Materials and Fuels Complex.

“*The INL agreement for treatment of Fermi Drums is the first in what we hope will be a series of treatment demonstrations leading to eventual operations to treat and stabilize DOE and commercial reactive metal-containing waste,*” said Ryan Dodd, technology director at Veolia Nuclear Solutions - Federal Services.

The agreement marks the latest example of Veolia Nuclear Solutions working with the INL. The company has worked with BEA at the INL since 2016 on a series of engineering scale ICV melts that underscored the viability of treating elemental sodium to produce a stable, non-reactive form using the GeoMelt® process. Such demonstrations are important as the U.S. continues to develop reactor technologies to support national energy needs, as well as for the treatment of legacy waste. GeoMelt® provides a new option at this critical juncture.

To know more about [our vitrification systems to stabilize radioactive waste](/our-expertise/solutions/stabilization-radioactive-waste)