History of Nuclear Waste Glass in France

The history of high level nuclear waste vitrification in France is told, from the first research on the solidification of fission product solutions led by Roger Bonniaud at Saclay in the 1950s, up to the last incineration/vitrification processes still under development in Marcoule. The first pilot facilities, Gulliver and PIVER in Marcoule, opened the way for industrial development, beginning with the Marcoule vitrification facility (AVM) commissioned by COGEMA (now AREVA) in 1978, and followed by the start-up of two vitrification units at La Hague in 1989 (R7) and 1992 (T7), and the implementation of a cold crucible melter on one of the six La Hague vitrification lines in 2010.Looking back over more than half a century reveals some of the keys to French success in this area: a major program of sustained and continuing research (rather than by fits and starts); continuous interaction between “material definition”, “technological research” and “long-term behaviour”; and strong synergy with industry (AREVA) leading to the creation of a Joint Vitrification Laboratory in 2010.