Impact of Phase Separation on Waste Glass Durability
Phase separation is shown to have an adverse and unpredictable effect on durability of borosilicate nuclear waste glasses. The glass chemistry and thermal history of the waste glass during solidification in a canister can impact the kinetics of phase separation and thus, the long term durability of a the glass. Although waste glasses contain 15-20 components, many of the components are present in minor amounts. Greater than 95 percent of the glass chemistry is dominated by the seven major components, Na2O- K2O-Li2O-SiO2-Al2O3-B2O3-Fe2O3. Although the phase equilibria of this seven component system has never been studied, a compositionally dependent "Phase Separation Discriminator" was developed from a database of 88 High Level Waste (HLW) glasses shown experimentally to be homogeneous and 22 shown experimentally to be phase separated. This discriminator ensures that the HLW glasses produced in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) are homogeneous and have predictable long term durability.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-96SR18500
- OSTI ID:
- 6120
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-MS-99-00333, Rev. 0; ON: DE00006120
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 101st Annual Meeting of the American Ceramic Society, Indianapolis, IN (USA), 27-28 Apr 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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