Thanks to the personnel in the laboratories that supported these tests including Whitney Riley, Kandice Miles, and Kim Wyszynski in the Process Science Analytical Laboratory and Tom White in SRNL's Analytical Development. Thanks to Bill Holtzscheiter, Grace Chen, Stephanie Harrington, and Christie Sudduth for their support in planning these experiments. Jack Zamecnik thanks Dan Lambert and Matt Siegfried for completing this report upon his retirement from SRNL.

DE92 015893

DE92 015893

A document prepared for WASTE MANAGEMENT '95 CONFERENCE-PAPER FOR PUBLISHED PROCEEDINGS ONLY-ABSTRACT WAS APPROVED 10-13-94. at Tucson from 02/26/95 -03/02/95. DOE Contract No. DE-AC09-89SR18035This paper was prepared in connection with work done under the above contract number with the U. S. Department of Energy. By acceptance of this paper, the publisher and/or recipient acknowledges the U. S. Government's right to retain a nonexclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright covering this paper, along with the right to reproduce and to authorize others to reproduce all or part of the copyrighted paper. DISCL.RMERThis report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or-usefklness of any information, apparatus, product, or pro~ess disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, ABSTRACTInvestigations have been performed to determine the suitability of glass as a host for surplus fissile material removed from nuclear weapons. The U.S. Department of Energy -Office of Technology Development has sponsored research at the Savannah River Site to develop durable glass compositions that are compatible with high concentrations of plutonium and uranium. These investigations also being performed to provide baseline actinide glass durability and processing data.Two glass forming systems are being evaluated. One of the systems is a commercial borosilicate glass and the other an iron phosphate glass. Both glass systems have a very high degree of compatibility with actinide oxides and are considerably more durable than conventional high-level waste glasses. The iron phosphate glass has a melting temperature in the 1 100°C range and has the higher uranium and plutonium solubility. The borosilicate has a melting temperature in the 1425°C range and is the more durable (on the order of fused silica) glass.

A number of people were involved in this test program and what follows is undoubtably an incomplete list. Thanks to Jack Zamecnik, Dan Lambert, and Charles Nash for their mentorship and consultation. Big thanks to Daniel Jones for performing the experiential work and reviewing the research directions. Whitney Riley and Kim Wyszynski in the Process Science Analytical Laboratory provided analytical support. Thanks to Fernando Fondeur and Patrick O'Rourke for suggesting in-situ ultraviolet / visible (UV-Vis) measurements and providing the tools to use it. Thanks to Jacqueline Do and Magdalina Hansen for help with simulant preparation. Thanks to Bill Holtzscheiter, Grace Chen, and Tom Colleran for their support in planning these experiments.