Survey of Glass Plutonium Contents and Poison Selection

Conference · Tue Dec 12 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:420653

Plodinec, M. J. ^[1]; Ramsey, W. G. ^[1]; Ellison, A. J. G. ^[2]; Shaw, H. ^[2]

---

1. Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Aiken, SC (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

If plutonium and other actinides are to be immobilized in glass, then achieving high concentrations in the glass is desirable. This will lead to reduced costs and more rapid immobilization. However, glasses with high actinide concentrations also bring with them undesirable characteristics, especially a greater concern about nuclear criticality, particularly in a geologic repository. The key to achieving a high concentration of actinide elements in a glass is to formulate the glass so that the solubility of actinides is high. At the same time, the glass must be formulated so that the glass also contains neutron poisons, which will prevent criticality during processing and in a geologic repository. In this paper, the solubility of actinides, particularly plutonium, in three types of glasses are discussed. Plutonium solubilities are in the 2-4 wt% range for borosilicate high-level waste (HLW) glasses of the type which will be produced in the US. This type of glass is generally melted at relatively low temperatures, ca. 1150°C. For this melting temperature, the glass can be reformulated to achieve plutonium solubilities of at least 7 wt%. This low melting temperature is desirable if one must retain volatile cesium-137 in the glass. If one is not concerned about cesium volatility, then glasses can be formulated which can contain much larger amounts of plutonium and other actinides. Plutonium concentrations of at least 15 wt% have been achieved. Thus, there is confidence that high (≥ 5 wt%) concentrations of actinides can be achieved under a variety of conditions.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Aiken, SC (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-89SR18035
• OSTI ID: 420653
• Report Number(s): CONF-951259, 229-239; ON: DE96011798
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ACTINIDES
Actinides
CESIUM 137
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CRITICALITY
GLASS
Geologic Repository
Glassformer Composition
High-Level Waste (HLW)
Loffler Glasses
MELTING
Materials Disposition Program
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SOLUBILITY
STABILIZATION
VITRIFICATION
VOLATILITY
WASTE FORMS