Hanford site has been operated since 1943 to produce the plutonium for nuclear weapons. Significant amount of radioactive wastes was generated by the nuclear weapons production process. The radioactive wastes are stored in 177 aged underground tanks. Due to the risk of leakage into the air and the Columbia River, the US DOE and EPA, and Washington State Department of Ecology organized the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) to clean-up the Hanford site in 1989. The LAW (low-activity waste) vitrification facility named WTP (Waste Treatment Plant) is plan to vitrify about 212 million liters of radioactive waste. The US DOE announced that the world’s largest melter to vitrify the LAW was heated up on October 8, 2022.

• Sunghoon Hong(Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) Central Research Institute (KHNP-CRI)) Corresponding author
• Mihyun Lee(Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) Central Research Institute (KHNP-CRI))
• Young Hwan Hwang(Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) Central Research Institute (KHNP-CRI))