Elemental depth profiling of nuclear waste glasses after two-years burial in a salt geology

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1992.tb05492.x· OSTI ID:7140313

Lodding, A R; Engstrom, E U ^[1]; Zoitos, B K; Clark, D E ^[2]; Wicks, G G ^[3]

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1. Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Goeteborg (Sweden). Inst. of Physics
2. Florida Univ., Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
3. Savannah River Lab., Aiken, SC (United States)

This paper reports that detailed surface compositional analysis has been conducted on 12 simulated nuclear waste forms leached for two years in the brine environment of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) of both cations and anions has identified characteristic leaching and precipitation zones within the leached layers on all specimens. The thickness of the leached layer is found to range from approximately 0.3 to 2.7 [mu]m and the total element loss from 80 to 625 mmol/m[sup 2], indicating that durability in brine differs by less than an order of magnitude between the different glasses. The in-depth profiles of anionic elements indicate the significant roles of carbon, fluorine, and chlorine in the formation of surface phases. Also recorded and discussed are elemental SIMS images of sputter crater tapers, providing additional documentation of leaching subzones.

• OSTI ID: 7140313
• Journal Information: Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States) Vol. 75:10; ISSN 0002-7820; ISSN JACTAW
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Management
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360202* -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Structure & Phase Studies
ANIONS
BRINES
CATIONS
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
DIMENSIONS
DISSOLUTION
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GEOLOGY
GLASS
IONS
LAYERS
LEACHING
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PILOT PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SALTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SIMULATION
SPECTROSCOPY
THICKNESS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
WIPP