Testing of the Vitrification Bublers at Hanford are over

Crews at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant have finished testing bubblers, the special equipment used to transform radiological and chemical tank waste into a glass form for safe disposal.

Eighteen bubblers will be installed at the top of the 300-ton melter, where a mixture of tank waste and glass-forming materials will be heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit during vitrification, or immobilization of the waste into glass.

Bubblers will inject air to the bottom of the melted glass pool to circulate the mixture and maintain an even temperature.

According to the US Department of Energy