Following decommissioning of the Karlsruhe Reprocessing Plant (WAK) in
1991, complete disposal has been planned by 2010 on the basis of the
revised overall decommissioning, demolition and disposal concept. In t
he nearly twenty years of plant operation, reprocessing 208 t of spent
nuclear fuel gave rise to a total of approx. 80 m(3) of high-level wa
ste concentrate (HLWC) currently stored in two shielded, cooled stainl
ess steel tanks. Complete disposal of WAK requires the disposal also o
f this waste. Under the previous general concept, thirty HLWC shipment
s by rail were to be made to Mol, Belgium, and the waste was to be con
ditioned in the Mol Pilot Plant for the Production of Waste for Storag
e (Pamela). Between 1985 and the end of operations in 1991, some 900 m
(3) of high-level fission product solutions were processed in that pla
nt, and 490 t of vitrified product was filled into some 2000 glass can
isters. As shipments of high-level liquid waste to Belgium are now bei
ng considered more difficult, because of new developments and changed
boundary conditions, and as the cost risk of such transports has also
increased in situ vitrification is now being proposed. This offers adv
antages arising from the absence of filling and shipping, but requires
a new Karlsruhe Vitrification Plant (VEK) to be planned and built. In
view of the comparatively small waste volume, a cast-effective plant
is envisaged which is to be adapted to technical boundary conditions i
n a modern design concept.