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The Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) has been c h a r t e r e d by t h e Department of Energy (DOE) -O f f i c e of Technology Development (OTD) t o i n v e s t i g a t e v i t r i f i c a t i o n technology f o r t h e t r e a t m e n t of Low LevelMixed Wastes (LLMW). I n f i s c a l y e a r 1995, mercury c o n t a i n i n g LLMW streams were targeted. I n order t o s u c c e s s f u l l y a p p l y v i t r i f i c a t i o n technology t o mercury c o n t a i n i n g LLMW, t h e types and q u a n t i t i e s o f g l a s s forming a d d i t i v e s necessary f o r producing homogeneous glasses from t h e wastes have t o be determined and t h e t r e a t m e n t f o r t h e mercury p o r t i o n m u s t a l s o be determined. S e l e c t e d a d d i t i v e s s h o u l d e n s u r e t h a t a d u r a b l e and l e a c h r e s i s t a n t waste form i s produced, while t h e m e r c u r y t r e a t m e n t should e n s u r e t h a t hazardous amounts of mercury are not r e l e a s e d i n t o t h e environment. The mercury c o n t a i n i n g LLMW selected f o r v i t r i f i c a t i o n s t u d i e s a t t h e SRTC w a s mercury contaminated s o i l f r o m t h e TNX p i l o t -p l a n t f a c i l i t y a t t h e Savannah River S i t e (SRS). Samples o f t h i s s o i l w e r e o b t a i n e d so bench-scale v i t r i f i c a t i o n s t u d i e s c o u l d b e performed a t t h e SRTC t odetermine t h e optimum w a s t e l o a d i n g o b t a i n a b l e i n t h e glass product without s a c r i f i c i n g d u r a b i l i t y and l e a c h r e s i s t a n c e . V i t r i f y i n g t h i s waste stream a l s o r e q u i r e d o f f g a s t r e a t m e n t f o r t h e c a p t u r e of t h e vaporized mercury. R e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t a d u r a b l e , l e a c h r e s i s t a n t glass waste form capable of p a s s i n g t h e Product Consistency T e s t (PCT) and t h e T o x i c i t y C h a r a c t e r i s t i c Leaching Procedure (TCLP) could be produced. The optimum g l a s s feed composition c o n t a i n e d 60 weight p e r c e n t s o i l and produced a s o d a -l i m e -s i l i c a glass when melted a t 1350OC. p e r c e n t N a 2 C 0 3 and 1 6 weight p e r c e n t C a C 0 3 . The g l a s s a d d i t i v e s used t o produce t h i s glass w e r e 2 4 weightThe proposed mercury c a p t u r e method w a s a Na2S wash b o t t l e followed by a NaOH wash b o t t l e . The v o l a t i l i z e d mercury e n t e r e d t h e f i r s t wash b o t t l e through a bubbler and should have been converted t o HgzS, a v e r y s t a b l e form of mercury. I f s u c c e s s f u l , no f u r t h e r t r e a t m e n t of t h e mercury would have been needed. However, a t t e m p t s t o c a p t u r e t h e v o l a t i l i z e d mercury i n a Na2S s o l u t i o n wash b o t t l e w e r e n o t as s u c c e s s f u l as a n t i c i p a t e d . Maximum mercury c a p t u r e d w a s o n l y about 2% of t h e mercury c o n t a i n e d i n t h e feed. E f f o r t s t h e n s h i f t e d t o condensi...