Nuclear waste package materials testing report: basaltic and tuffaceous environments
The disposal of high-level nuclear wastes in underground repositories in the continental United States requires the development of a waste package that will contain radionuclides for a time period commensurate with performance criteria, which may be up to 1000 years. This report addresses materials testing in support of a waste package for a basalt (Hanford, Washington) or a tuff (Nevada Test Site) repository. The materials investigated in this testing effort were: sodium and calcium bentonites and mixtures with sand or basalt as a backfill; iron and titanium-based alloys as structural barriers; and borosilicate waste glass PNL 76-68 as a waste form. The testing also incorporated site-specific rock media and ground waters: Reference Umtanum Entablature-1 basalt and reference basalt ground water, Bullfrog tuff and NTS J-13 well water. The results of the testing are discussed in four major categories: Backfill Materials: emphasizing water migration, radionuclide migration, physical property and long-term stability studies. Structural Barriers: emphasizing uniform corrosion, irradiation-corrosion, and environmental-mechanical testing. Waste Form Release Characteristics: emphasizing ground water, sample surface area/solution volume ratio, and gamma radiolysis effects. Component Compatibility: emphasizing solution/rock, glass/rock, glass/structural barrier, and glass/backfill interaction tests. This area also includes sensitivity testing to determine primary parameters to be studied, and the results of systems tests where more than two waste package components were combined during a single test.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 60288
- Report Number(s):
- PNL--4452; ON: DE83010270
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BACKFILLING
BASALT
BENTONITE
BOROSILICATE GLASS
CORROSION
ENGINEERED SAFETY SYSTEMS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
IRON BASE ALLOYS
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MIXTURES
PACKAGING
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOLYSIS
STABILITY
TITANIUM BASE ALLOYS
TUFF
Yucca Mountain Project