The role of natural glasses as analogues in projecting the long-term alteration of high-level nuclear waste glasses: Part 1

Conference · Fri Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:10118422

Mazer, J J

The common observation of glasses persisting in natural environments for long periods of time (up to tens of millions of years) provides compelling evidence that these materials can be kinetically stable in a variety of subsurface environments. This paper reviews how natural and historical synthesized glasses can be employed as natural analogues for understanding and projecting the long-term alteration of high-level nuclear waste glasses. The corrosion of basaltic glass results in many of the same alteration features found in laboratory testing of the corrosion of high-level radioactive waste glasses. Evidence has also been found indicating similarities in the rate controlling processes, such as the effects of silica concentration on corrosion in groundwater and in laboratory leachates. Naturally altered rhyolitic glasses and tektites provide additional evidence that can be used to constrain estimates of long-term waste glass alteration. When reacted under conditions where water is plentiful, the corrosion for these glasses is dominated by network hydrolysis, while the corrosion is dominated by molecular water diffusion and secondary mineral formation under conditions where water contact is intermittent or where water is relatively scarce. Synthesized glasses that have been naturally altered result in alkali-depleted alteration features that are similar to those found for natural glasses and for nuclear waste glasses. The characteristics of these alteration features appear to be dependent on the alteration conditions which affect the dominant reaction processes during weathering. In all cases, care must be taken to ensure that the information being provided by natural analogues is related to nuclear waste glass corrosion in a clear and meaningful way.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 10118422
• Report Number(s): ANL/CMT/CP-80123; CONF-931108-58-Pt.1; ON: DE94005920
• Resource Relation: Conference: Fall meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS),Boston, MA (United States),29 Nov - 3 Dec 1993; Other Information: PBD: [1993]
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
STABILIZATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
VITRIFICATION
GLASS
WEATHERING
CORROSION
NATURAL ANALOGUE
WASTE FORMS
SILICON
TEKTITES
RHYOLITES
BASALT
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
052002
054000
052001
360604
WASTE DISPOSAL AND STORAGE
HEALTH AND SAFETY
WASTE PROCESSING
CORROSION, EROSION, AND DEGRADATION