WM’03 Conference, February 23-27, 2003, Tucson, AZ 1 USE OF OPTICAL AND IMAGING TECHNIQUES FOR INSPECTION OF OFF-LINE JOULE-HEATED MELTER AT THE WEST VALLEY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT M. John Plodinec, Ping-Rey Jang, Zhiling Long, David L. Monts, Thomas Philip, and Yi Su Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory (DIAL) Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 39762 USA http://www.dial.msstate.edu/ ABSTRACT The West Valley melter has been taken out of service. Its design is the direct ancestor of the current melter design for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Over its eight years of service, the West Valley melter has endured many of the same challenges that the Hanford melter will encounter with feeds that are similar to many of the Hanford double shell tank wastes. Thus, inspection of the West Valley melter prior to its disposal could provide valuable – even crucial – information to the designers of the melters to be used at the Hanford Site, particularly if quantitative information can be obtained. The objective of Mississippi State University’s Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory’s (DIAL) efforts is to develop, fabricate, and deploy inspection tools for the West Valley melter that will (i.) be remotely operable in the West Valley process cell; (ii.) provide quantitative information on melter refractory wear and deposits on the refractory; and (iii.) indicate areas of heterogeneity (e.g., deposits) requiring more detailed characterization. A collaborative arrangement has been established with the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) to inspect their melter. INTRODUCTION Since World War II, the United States government has been involved with the production, control, and regulation of radioactive materials for both military and civilian uses. Over the years, that effort has generated a large amount of radioactive and radioactively contaminated wastes. Currently the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is deactivating and decommissioning (D&D) many of the sites within the U.S. where transuranic materials were processed. Among these sites is the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in West Valley, New York (1). Vitrification has played a key role in the WVDP. Almost all of the radioactive components of the high-level waste on site have been immobilized in borosilicate (1,2). This was accomplished with a single, refractory-lined, Joule- heated melter, the Vitrification Expended Materials Project (VEMP) melter. Prior to construction and operation of the VEMP melter, WVDP constructed and operated from 1984 to 1989 the Functional and Checkout Testing of Systems (FACTS) melter using non-radioactive materials in order to perfect the engineering design of the VEMP melter. Upon completion of the FACTS effort, an extensive “autopsy” of the FACTS melter (1,3) led to information that was utilized in the design and operation of the VEMP melter. The inspection effort described here is in essence an outgrowth of the FACTS autopsy. The West Valley VEMP melter now has been taken out of service because virtually all the liquid high-level wastes at WVDP have been vitrified. Its design is the direct ancestor of the current melter design for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Over its eight years of service, the West Valley VEMP melter has endured many of the same challenges that the Hanford melter will encounter – e.g., noble metals, melt level fluctuations – with feeds that are similar to many of the Hanford double shell tank wastes. Thus, inspection of the West Valley VEMP melter prior to its disposal could provide valuable – even crucial – information to the designers of the melters to be used at the Hanford Site, particularly if quantitative information can be obtained. The objective of Mississippi State University’s Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory’s (DIAL) efforts is to develop, fabricate, and deploy inspection tools for the West Valley VEMP melter that will (i.) be remotely operable in the West Valley process cell; (ii.) provide quantitative information on melter refractory wear and deposits on the refractory; and (iii.) indicate areas of heterogeneity (e.g., deposits) requiring more detailed