Assessment of Savannah River borosilicate glass in the repository environment

Technical Report · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5294889· OSTI ID:5294889

Plodinec, M. J.; Wicks, G. G.; Bibler, N. E.

Since 1973, borosilicate glass has been studied as a matrix for the immobilization of high-level radioactive waste generated at the Savannah River Plant (SRP). In 1977, efforts began to develop and test the large-scale equipment necessary to convert the alkaline waste slurries at SRP into a durable borosilicate glass. A process has now been developed for the proposed Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) which will annually produce approximately 500 canisters of SRP waste glass which will be stored on an interim basis on the Savannah River site. Current national policy calls for the permanent disposal of high-level waste in deep geologic repositories. In the repository environment, SRP waste glass will eventually be exposed to such stresses as lithostatic or hydrostatic pressures, radiation fields, and self-heating due to radioactive decay. In addition, producing and handling each canister of glass will also expose the glass to thermal and mechanical stresses. An important objective of the extensive glass characterization and testing programs of the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) has been to determine how these stresses affect the performance of SRP waste glass. The results of these programs indicate that: these stresses will not significantly affect the performance of borosilicate glass containing SRP waste; and SRP waste glass will effectively immobilize hazardous radionuclides in the repository environment.

• Research Organization: Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-76SR00001
• OSTI ID: 5294889
• Report Number(s): DP-1629; ON: DE82014913
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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BOROSILICATE GLASS
EVALUATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GLASS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL TESTS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SOLIDIFICATION
STRESSES
TESTING
THERMAL STRESSES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VITRIFICATION
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES