Waste-form development for conversion to portland cement at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Technical Area 55 (TA-55)

Technical Report · Tue Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/392776· OSTI ID:392776

Veazey, G W; Schake, A R; Shalek, P D; Romero, D A; Smith, C A

The process used at TA-55 to cement transuranic (TRU) waste has experienced several problems with the gypsum-based cement currently being used. Specifically, the waste form could not reliably pass the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) prohibition for free liquid and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) standard for chromium. This report describes the project to develop a portland cement-based waste form that ensures compliance to these standards, as well as other performance standards consisting of homogeneous mixing, moderate hydration temperature, timely initial set, and structural durability. Testing was conducted using the two most common waste streams requiring cementation as of February 1994, lean residue (LR)- and oxalate filtrate (OX)-based evaporator bottoms (EV). A formulation with a pH of 10.3 to 12.1 and a minimum cement-to-liquid (C/L) ratio of 0.80 kg/l for OX-based EV and 0.94 kg/L for LR-based EV was found to pass the performance standards chosen for this project. The implementation of the portland process should result in a yearly cost savings for raw materials of approximately $27,000 over the gypsum process.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 392776
• Report Number(s): LA--13125; ON: DE97000467
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
CEMENTING
COMPRESSION STRENGTH
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
LANL
LEACHING
MATERIAL SUBSTITUTION
MATERIALS TESTING
MOISTURE
PORTLAND CEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SPECIFICATIONS
WASTE FORMS