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Title: WIPP/SRL in-situ and laboratory testing programs. Part I. MIIT overview, nonradioactive waste glass studies

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6458541

In-situ testing of the performance of Savannah River Plant (SRP) waste glass is an important component in ensuring its long-term safety in potential repository environments. This effort is exemplified by (1) over 100 SRP waste glasses that have been buried in granite in Sweden for two years (2) additional SRP samples that will be buried in clay in Belgium this year and (3) the new in-situ program involving the burial of simulated SRP and international waste glass compositions in salt at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) later this year. The current report provides an overview of the new and extensive WIPP/SRL in-situ effort. This program is a joint undertaking between the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) and is the first field test involving burial of simulated nuclear waste glasses to be conducted in the United States. The most extensive part of the WIPP/SRL program is the Materials Interface Interactions Tests or MIIT. This is an international effort which currently involves the burial of 974 waste form samples, consisting of fourteen different glass compositions from seven different countries. In addition to these samples there are also over 300 specimens of potential canister or overpack metals of about a dozen different metal types and over 600 backfill and salt samples. In total, there will be over 1900 relevant interactions between waste forms, potential canister and overpack metals, backfill and salt that will result from the burial of these specimens in the WIPP salt site. The MIIT effort is one of the largest cooperative efforts ever undertaken in the waste management field. The extensive data base produced from these tests will benefit a wide variety of disciplines and a wide cross-section of the waste management community. 19 refs., 12 figs., 5 tabs.

Research Organization:
Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-76SR00001
OSTI ID:
6458541
Report Number(s):
DP-1706; ON: DE86005341
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English