Plutonium leachability from alternative transuranic incinerator ash waste forms

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

OSTI ID:6628351

Neilson, R Jr; Colombo, P; Bradley, D

Leaching experiments were conducted to determine the rate of plutonium release from Portland cement, urea-formaldehyde, and polyester-styrene waste forms incorporating incinerator ash waste. A modified IAEA leach test procedure was employing using demineralized water, simulated WIPP Brine B, simplified sodium dominated groundwater, simplified calcium dominated groundwater and simplified bicarbonate dominated groundwater leachants. The data obtained provided a good fit to a diffusion release model for semi-infinite media. This model allows the calculation of effective diffusivities for plutonium release and provides a means for the prediction of long-term plutonium releases from full-scale waste forms. The effective diffusivities determined for Portland cement and polyester-styrene waste forms varied from 1.6 x 10/sup -22/ to 3.9 x 10/sup -20/ cm/sup 2//sec. Plutonium release was more rapid from urea-formaldehyde waste forms which exhibited effective diffusivities of 2.3 x 10/sup -18/ to 1.1 x 10/sup -14/ cm/sup 2//sec. The lowest release rates were obtained for leaching in WIPP Brine B. Effective diffusivities in the range of 10/sup -22/ to 10/sup -20/ cm/sup 2//sec result in predicted fraction plutonium releases of 1.9 x 10/sup -6/ to 1.9 x 10/sup -5/ in 10/sup 5/ years (neglecting decay) from 210 liter (55 gallon drum) waste forms. As a result of the low effective diffusivities determined and for the long half-lives of TRU radionuclides, waste form stability may be the primary determinant of activity release over the time period that must be considered for TRU waste disposal.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA); Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 6628351
• Report Number(s): BNL-28845; CONF-800611-11; IAEA-SM-246/45
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
510301 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Soil-- (-1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACID CARBONATES
ACTINIDES
ALDEHYDES
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
AMIDES
AROMATICS
ASHES
BRINES
BUILDING MATERIALS
CALCIUM CHLORIDES
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM HALIDES
CARBONIC ACID DERIVATIVES
CEMENTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
COMBUSTION
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
ESTERS
FORMALDEHYDE
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GROUND WATER
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LEACHING
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXIDATION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM
POLLUTANTS
POLYESTERS
POLYMERS
PORTLAND CEMENT
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RESIDUES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SODIUM CHLORIDES
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SOLID WASTES
STYRENE
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
UREA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
WATER