Immobilization as a Route to Surplus Fissile Materials Disposition

Conference · Sun Sep 03 00:00:00 EDT 1995

OSTI ID:178125

Gray, L. W. ^[1]; Kan, T. ^[1]; Jardine, L. J. ^[1]; Angelos, J. G. ^[2]; McKibben, J. M. ^[2]; Wicks, G. G. ^[2]; Forsberg, C. W. ^[3]; Danker, W. ^[4]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
2. Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
4. US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington DC (United States)

One disposition alternative being considered for surplus Pu is immobilization. Immobilization is the fixation of the Pu in a waste matrix to create an environmentally benign form for disposal in a geologic repository or deep borehole. In support of the Surplus Fissile Materials Control and Disposition (MD) Project Office's Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Disposition of Surplus Fissile Materials (SFM), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was selected as the lead laboratory to study and recommend methods and infrastructures required to transform SFM into long-term immobilized forms meeting environmental, safety, and security objectives. Prime immobilization options are to vitrify Pu in borosilicate glass or incorporate Pu in a tailored ceramic or other suitable material, alone or mixed with radioactive fission products to produce a form for disposal in a geologic repository or a deep borehole. To be economically viable, the minimum Pu concentration of the waste form should be in the range of 1 to 7 wt% range for a Yucca Mountain-like repository to 0.4-10 wt% for a deep borehole. To arrive at waste forms suitable for immobilizing Pu, the authors reviewed published information on high-level waste immobilization technologies and prescreened the 45 unique waste forms identified to arrive at the most promising technologies for Pu immobilization. The two most promising technologies, glasses and ceramics are being further studied to identify and evaluate the materials science, engineering, environmental, safety, and health issues remaining to be solved to allow technical decisions as to the viability of using either for long-term disposition of Pu.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington DC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 178125
• Report Number(s): CONF-950917; ISBN 0-7918-1219-7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
BOROSILICATE GLASS
Borosilicate Glass
CERAMICS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CRITICALITY
Deep Borehole
Disposition
FLOWSHEETS
Geologic Repository
Immobilization
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
PERFORMANCE
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
Surplus Fissile Materials Control and Disposition (MD) Project
Surplus Pu
TITANATES
Tailored Ceramic
VITRIFICATION
WASTE FORMS
Waste Matrix