Microstructural properties of high level waste concentrates and gels with raman And infrared spectroscopies. 1998 annual progress report

Technical Report · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/13660· OSTI ID:13660

Agnew, S F ^[1]; Johnston, C T ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (US)
2. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (US)

'The concentrated caustic waste slurries stored in waste tanks at Hanford and Savannah River have large amounts of aluminate along with nitrate, nitrite, hydroxide, carbonate, and phosphate-all species are present both in solution and as solids. The dominant cation is sodium with few percent potassium and other species. These slurries have sodium concentrations on the order of 10--15 mol/L and therefore very high ionic strengths and low water activities. These slurries have been the source of many safety problems at Hanford and Savannah River Sites and the slurry rheologies, gelling points, and gas retention properties are largely responsible for those safety issues. Even though both Hanford and Savannah River have produced large volumes of these slurry concentrates, the microstructural properties that are important for understanding slurry behavior are not well understood. For example, aluminate solid formation has been associated with Hanford concentrates, but is not observed at Savannah River. Another example is that although hydrogen gas retention in slurries is a prevailing safety issue at Hanford, it is only a relatively minor issue in SRS tanks.'

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM), Office of Science and Risk Policy
• OSTI ID: 13660
• Report Number(s): EMSP-54773--98; ON: DE00013660
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
High-Level Radioactive Wastes
PROGRESS REPORT
Progress Report
WASTES
Wastes