Immobilization of fission products in low-temperature ceramic waste forms
Over the last few years, Argonne National Laboratory has been developing room-temperature-setting chemically bonded phosphate ceramics (CBPCs) for use in solidifying and stabilizing low-level mixed wastes. The focus of this work is development of CBPCs for use with fission-product wastes generated from high-level waste (HLW) tank cleaning or other decontamination and decommissioning activities. The volatile fission products such as Tc, Cs, and Sr removed from HLW need to be disposed of in a low-temperature immobilization system. Specifically, this paper reports on the solidification and stabilization of separated {sup 99}Tc from Los Alamos National Laboratory`s complexation-elution process. Using rhenium as a surrogate form technetium, we fabricated CBPC waste forms by acid-base reactions. Dense and hard ceramic waste forms are produced in this process. The principal advantage of this technology is that the contaminants are immobilized by both chemical stabilization and subsequent microencapsulation of the reaction products. This paper reports the results of durability studies conducted on waste forms made with 35 wt.% waste loading. Standard leaching tests such as ANS 16.1 and PCT were conducted on the final waste forms. In addition, stability of the waste forms in aqueous environments was evaluated by long-term water-immersion tests.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 477709
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/ET/CP-90989; CONF-970335-42; ON: DE97004697; TRN: 97:010987
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management `97, Tucson, AZ (United States), 2-7 Mar 1997; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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