Improving the efficiency of nuclear waste immobilization is constantly desired by all nuclear waste management programs world-wide. For high-level and other waste to be vitrified in traditional ceramic Joule-heated melters operated at temperatures up to 1150 degrees C, process flexibilities including waste loadings are often restricted by this temperature limit as well as the need to consider wasteform corrosion of refractory linings and electrodes. New melter technologies, such as the cold-crucible melter (CCM), enable processing up to significantly higher temperatures free of many of the limitations of conventional melters. Higher processing temperatures open up the way for wider composition and processing envelopes to be considered for the vitrification process, including the possibility for higher waste loadings. In many instances the presence of crystals in the final cooled wasteform is not considered desirable within presently existing glass specifications. For some feed compositions in creased waste loadings can lead to the formation of large amounts of crystals, and thus to a significant departure from the ''glass'' state. Nevertheless it is recognized that, in general, increasing the acceptable volume fractions of crystals in the glass offers the best opportunity to increase waste loading, all other factors being equal. In addition, the deliberate promotion of specific crystalline phases by design may enhance the quality of the wasteform, for example by partitioning a long-lived radionuclide into a very stable crystalline phase, or by depleting the glass in detrimental elements.
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