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Title: Use of DWPF redox measurement technique on glasses from West Valley Nuclear Fuel Services Demonstration Project

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6017278· OSTI ID:6017278

Liquid high-level nuclear waste will be immobilized at the Savannah River Site (SRS) by vitrification in borosilicate glass in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). A similar vitrification facility exists at the West Valley Nuclear Fuel Services. In both of these facilities, control of the oxidation/reduction (redox) equilibrium in the glass melter is critical for processing of the nuclear waste. Redox can be determined by measuring the ratio of ferrous to ferric ions in the glass melt. A colorimetric procedure has been developed for the DWPF which has been shown to give rapid and reliable analytical results. This colorimetric technique has been shown to measure the Fe{sup 2+} component of glasses more accurately than other existing redox measurement methods. The DWPF redox technique was applied to a series of six glasses taken from the West Valley melter during a transient melter excursion. This excursion caused the glasses to become progressively more reducing with time. Application of the DWPF redox technique to these glasses correctly indicated the redox trends with a higher precision and with more accuracy than the West Valley wet chemical method and/or Alfred University's Mossbauer method. 1 fig., 18 refs.

Research Organization:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-89SR18035
OSTI ID:
6017278
Report Number(s):
WSRC-TR-90-527-Rev.1; ON: DE91009295
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English