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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Development of a nuclear waste glass product consistency test

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6978006

Construction of the nation's first facility to immobilize high-level nuclear waste is nearing completion at the Savannah River Site (SRS) at Aiken, SC. In the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), the waste resulting from over thirty years of reprocessing of nuclear fuels for national defense purposes will be immobilized in durable borosilicate glass. A leach test was needed which was easily reproducible and could be performed remotely on highly radioactive samples, and could yield reliable results rapidly. Several standard leach tests were examined, with a wide variety of test configurations. The DWPF Product Consistency Test (PCT) has been developed in which crushed glass samples are exposed to 90{degree}C deionized water for seven days. In this paper, the vitrification process and product are described, as well as the product specifications, to provide a background for the use of the test. Test development, and the results of confirmatory testing are then presented. 18 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs.

Research Organization:
Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/DP
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-89SR18035
OSTI ID:
6978006
Report Number(s):
WSRC-TR-90-18; ON: DE90009248
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English