Significance of radiation effects in solid radioactive waste

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:5324402

Permar, P H; McDonell, W R

Proposed NRC criteria for disposal of high-level nuclear waste require development of waste packages to contain radionuclide for at least 1000 years, and design of repositories to prevent radionuclide release at an annual rate greater than 1 part in 100,000 of the total activity. The high-level wastes that are now temporarily stored as aqueous salts, sludges, and calcines must be converted to high-integrity solid forms that resist deterioration from radiation and other effects of long-term storage. Spent fuel may be encapsulated for similar long-term storage. Candidate waste forms beside the spent fuel elements themselves, include borosilicate and related glasses, mineral-like crystalline ceramics, concrete formulations, and metal-matrix glass or ceramic composites. these waste forms will sustain damage produced by beta-gamma radiation up to 10/sup 12/ rads, by alpha radiation up to 10/sup 19/ particles/g, by internal helium generation greater than about 0.1 atom percent, and by the atom transmutations accompanying radioactive decay. Current data indicate that under these conditions the glass forms suffer only minor volume changes, stored energy deposition, and leachability effects. The crystalline ceramics appear susceptible to the potentially more severe alterations accompanying metamictization and natural analogs of candidate materials are being examined to establish their suitability as waste forms. Helium concentrations in the waste forms are generally below thresholds for severe damage in either glass or crystalline ceramics at low temperatures, but microstructural effects are not well characterized. Transmutation effects remain to be established.

• Research Organization: Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-76SR00001
• OSTI ID: 5324402
• Report Number(s): DP-MS-80-27; CONF-800609-5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
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ALPHA DECAY
ALPHA PARTICLES
BETA DECAY
BOROSILICATE GLASS
BUILDING MATERIALS
CERAMICS
CERMETS
CHARGED PARTICLES
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
CONCRETES
DATA
DECAY
DISPLACEMENT RATES
DISSOLUTION
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FUELS
GLASS
INFORMATION
ISOTOPES
LEACHING
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUMERICAL DATA
PACKAGING
PELLETS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR MATERIALS
REVIEWS
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLID WASTES
SOLIDIFICATION
SPENT FUELS
TIME DEPENDENCE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES