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Title: Canonical correlation of waste glass compositions and durability, including pH

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6509649
;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Alfred Univ., NY (United States)
  2. Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)

Control of waste glass durability is a major concern in the immobilization of radioactive and mixed wastes. Leaching rate in standardized laboratory tests is being used as a demonstration of consistency of the response of waste glasses in the final disposal environment. The leaching of silicate and borosilicate glasses containing alkali or alkaline earth elements is known to be autocatalytic, in that the initial ion exchange of alkali in the glass for hydrogen ions in water results in the formation of OH and increases the pH of the leachate. The increased pH then increases the rate of silicate network attack, accelerating the leaching effect. In well formulated glasses this effect reaches a thermodynamic equilibrium when leachate saturation of a critical species, such as silica, or a dynamic equilibrium is reached when the pH shift caused by incremental leaching has negligible effect on pH. This report analyzes results of a seven leach test on waste glasses.

Research Organization:
Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-89SR18035
OSTI ID:
6509649
Report Number(s):
WSRC-MS-93-222; CONF-930438-8; ON: DE93012754
Resource Relation:
Conference: 95. annual meeting of the American Ceramic Society, Cincinnati, OH (United States), 18-22 Apr 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English