skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Laboratory testing of glasses for Lockheed Idaho Technology Company: Final report

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/532497· OSTI ID:532497

Tests have been conducted at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in support of the efforts of Lockheed Idaho Technology Company (LITCO) to vitrify high-level waste calcines. Tests were conducted with three classes of LITCO glass formulations: Formula 127 (fluorine-bearing), Formula 532 (fluorine-free), and 630 series (both single- and mixed-alkali) glasses. The test matrices included, as appropriate, the Product Consistency Test Method B (PCT-B), the Materials Characterization Center Test 1 (MCC-1), and the Argonne vapor hydration test (VHT). Test durations ranged from 7 to 183 d. In 7-d PCT-Bs, normalized mass losses of major glass-forming elements for the LITCO glasses are similar to, or lower than, normalized mass losses obtained for other domestic candidate waste glasses. Formula 532 glasses form zeolite alteration phases relatively early in their reaction with water. The formation of those phases increased the dissolution rate. In contrast, the Formula 127 glass is highly durable and forms alteration phases only after prolonged exposure to water in tests with very high surface area to volume ratios; these alteration phases have a relatively small effect on the rate of glass corrosion. No alteration phases formed within the maximum test duration of 183 d in PCT-Bs with the 630 series glasses. The corrosion behavior of the mixed-alkali 630 series glasses is similar to that of 630 series glasses containing sodium alone. In VHTs, both single- and mixed-alkali glasses form zeolite phases that increase the rate of glass reaction. The original 630 series glasses and those based on a revised surrogate calcine formulation react at the same rate in PCT-Bs and form the same major alteration phases in VHTs.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Lockheed Idaho Technologies Co., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC07-94ID13223; W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
532497
Report Number(s):
ANL-97/12; ON: DE97009402; TRN: 97:019425
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Jun 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English