UCOR completed the final offsite shipment of legacy sodium shields from ORNL under the Sodium Shield Technology Demonstration Project. This project is a collaborative effort supported by DOE’s Office of Technology Development and executed in partnership with UCOR and subcontractor Veolia Nuclear Solutions.
This demonstration project involved sending a limited number of shields for treatment to prove whether the process could safely and compliantly address this waste. In less than a year, seven sodium shields, weighing approximately 12,350 pounds, were successfully shipped for treatment and disposal. This final shipment included two shields.
The shields originated from radiation shielding experiments conducted at ORNL’s Tower Shielding Facility in the 1960s and 1970s. Constructed of metal containers filled with sodium or lithium, the materials are reactive when exposed to water, making them difficult to store, handle, and dispose of safely.
This cleanup will eliminate a 50-year waste challenge using a specialized technology, GeoMelt®, which uses a high-temperature process called vitrification to transform the reactive metals into stable glass for permanent disposal.
“Successfully completing this demonstration shows what can be achieved when experienced waste management teams are devoted to solving complex waste challenges safely and efficiently,” said John Witzeman, UCOR’s Waste Disposition Specialist. “Our team worked across several disciplines to develop and execute a specialized waste treatment approach, helping position Oak Ridge for continued cleanup progress and future modernization and national security missions.”
