scholarly journals Commercial high-level-waste management: options and economics. A comparative analysis of the ceramic and glass waste forms

1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L. McKisson ◽  
L.F. Grantham ◽  
J. Guon ◽  
H.L. Recht
1996 ◽  
Vol 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Weber ◽  
R. C. Ewing

AbstractA key challenge in the permanent disposal of high-level waste (HLW), plutonium residues/scraps, and excess weapons plutonium in glass waste forms is the development of predictive models of long-term performance that are based on a sound scientific understanding of relevant phenomena. Radiation effects from β-decay and α-decay can impact the performance of glasses for HLW and Pu disposition through the interactions of the α-particles, β-particles, recoil nuclei, and γ-rays with the atoms in the glass. Recently, a scientific panel convened under the auspices of the DOE Council on Materials Science to assess the current state of understanding, identify important scientific issues, and recommend directions for research in the area of radiation effects in glasses for HLW and Pu disposition. The overall finding of the panel was that there is a critical lack of systematic understanding on radiation effects in glasses at the atomic, microscopic, and macroscopic levels. The current state of understanding on radiation effects in glass waste forms and critical scientific issues are presented.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol M. Jantzen ◽  
James C. Marra

AbstractVitrification is currently the most widely used technology for the treatment of high level radioactive wastes (HLW) throughout the world. At the Savannah River Site (SRS) actual HLW tank waste has successfully been processed to stringent product and process constraints without any rework into a stable borosilicate glass waste since 1996. A unique “feed forward” statistical process control (SPC) has been used rather than statistical quality control (SQC). In SPC, the feed composition to the melter is controlled prior to vitrification. In SQC, the glass product is sampled after it is vitrified. Individual glass property models form the basis for the “feed forward” SPC. The property models transform constraints on the melt and glass properties into constraints on the feed composition. The property models are mechanistic and depend on glass bonding/structure, thermodynamics, quasicrystalline melt species, and/or electron transfers. The mechanistic models have been validated over composition regions well outside of the regions for which they were developed because they are mechanistic. Mechanistic models allow accurate extension to radioactive and hazardous waste melts well outside the composition boundaries for which they were developed.


1985 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Wanner

AbstractIn the safety analysis recently reported for a potential Swiss high-level waste repository, radionuclide speciation and solubility limits are calculated for expected granitic groundwater conditions. With the objective of deriving a more realistic description of radionuclide release from the near-field, an investigation has been initiated to quantitatively specify the chemistry of the near-field. In the Swiss case, the main components of the near-field are the glass waste-matrix, a thick cast steel canister horizontally stored in a drift, and a backfill of highly compacted bentonite.Based on available experimental data, an ion-exchange model for sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium has been developed, in order to simulate the reaction of sodium bentonite backfill with groundwater. The model assumes equilibrium with calcite as long as sufficient carbonates remain in the bentonite, as well as quartz saturation. The application of this model to the reference groundwater used in ‘Project Gewaehr 85’ results in a significant rise in pH (by up to 3 units) as well as a marked increase in the carbonate concentration.Neptunium and plutonium speciation and solubility limits are calculated for the reference groundwater chemistry gradually altered to that of saturated bentonite water and back again by a water exchange cycle model. The solubility limits estimated in this way generally turn out to be higher for the bentonite water than for the reference groundwater, mainly due to carbonate complexation of the actinide components AnO2+ and AnO22+. Uncertainties are particularly large for neptunium solubility due to its strong Eh dependence in bentonite water.


2013 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 37-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangeeta Deokattey ◽  
K. Bhanumurthy ◽  
P.K. Wattal

1986 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-139
Author(s):  
Edward J. Hennelly ◽  
E. I. Du Pont de Nemours

1981 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Headley ◽  
G. W. Arnold ◽  
C. J. M. Northrup

The long-term stability of nuclear waste forms is an important consideration in their selection for safe disposal of radioactive waste. Stability against long-term radiation damage is particularly difficult to assess by short-term laboratory experiments. Much of the displacement damage in high-level waste forms will be generated by heavy recoil nuclei emitted during the α-decay process of long-lived actinide elements. Hence, an accelerated aging test which reliably simulates the α-recoil damage accumulated during thousands of years of storage is desirable. One recent approach to this simulation is to implant the waste form with heavy Pb-ions.I- 6 If the validity of this approach is to be fully assessed, two important questions which have not yet been investigated must be answered.(1) Is the structural damage, including cumulative effects, similar for irradiation by Pb-ions and a-recoil nuclei in a given material? (2) Is the dose-dependence of the accumulated damage similar? The purpose of this investigation was to assess the extent of these similarities in selected materials. We utilized transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to characterize the radiation damage and measure its dose-dependence.


1984 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin A. Molecke

AbstractSeveral series of simulated (nonradioactive) defense high-level waste (DHLW) package tests have recently been emplaced in the WIPP, a research and development facility authorized to demonstrate the safe disposal of defense-related wastes. The primary purpose of these 3-to-7 year duration tests is to evaluate the in situ materials performance of waste package barriers (canisters, overpacks, backfills, and nonradioactive DHLW glass waste form) for possible future application to a licensed waste repository in salt. This paper describes all test materials, instrumentation, and emplacement and testing techniques, and discusses progress of the various tests.These tests are intended to provide information on materials behavior (i.e., corrosion, metallurgical and geochemical alterations, waste form durability, surface interactions, etc.), as well as comparison between several waste package designs, fabrications details, and actual costs.These experiments involve 18 full-size simulated DHLW packages (approximately 3.0 m x 0.6 m diameter) emplaced in vertical boreholes in the salt drift floor. Six of the test packages contain internal electrical heaters (470 W/canister), and were emplaced under approximately reference DHLW repository conditions. Twelve other simulated DHLW packages were emplaced tinder accelerated-aging or overtest conditions, including the artificial introduction of brine, and a thermal loading approximately three to four times higher than reference. Eight of these 12 test packages contain 1500 W/canister electrical heaters; the other four are filled with DHLW glass.


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