Burning waste

Researchers at The Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT, have developed a low-temperature plasma burning process for the incineration of water purification resin used in nuclear power plants.

The resin itself is used to purify  the water used in the primary circuits of such plants, which then makes it radioactive. And although the level of radioactivity does not decrease once the ash is incinerated,  the volume of the radioactive waste decreases to at least a tenth of its original volume, considerably reducing storage and final disposal costs.

In the VTT system, the resin is incinerated at subatmospheric pressure in a chamber. The radioactive ash can then be solidified in concrete which will make the final waste product safe for storage.

To test out the new process, VTT and its partners have signed an agreement to build a half-scale plasma burning pilot plant within two years, with the aim of building a full-scale plant in five years.

The project is managed by Finex, which manufactures ion exchange resins in Finland. Other partners are TVO, Fortum Generation and Tekes.