The melting process
The melting facility possesses all of the equipment needed to prepare waste before processing: sorting, cutting and gauging.
They are then melted in an electric induction furnace at temperatures between 1 300°C and 1 600°C.
Pollution is minimal as this technology produces only small quantities of process off-gases.
It also ensures excellent homogenisation of the melt bath, which makes it easier to characterise the end product.
The melting furnace is designed to process an average of 20 tons of waste per day.
The off-gas is collected by means of a dedicated ventilation system and purified across bag filters and HEPA filters before release to the stach.
Foundry products
Waste meeting certain metallurgical criteria are used to produce radiological protection shielding for conditioning of other intermediate-level waste.
Centrifugation, cutting, and assembly equipment is available at CENTRACO for this purpose. Molten metal is poured into a rotating centrifuge to produce a tube, which is then cut to length and fitted with a bottom, a flange, a cover, and a stirring mechanism.
Waste that fails to meet reuse criteria are melted down into ingots, which are then shipped as ultimate waste forms to the ANDRA surface storage facility.
The volume reduction factor is between 10 to 12:1 for ingots.