Phosphate Glass Process for Disposal of High Level Radioactive Wastes

Tuthill, E.J.; Weth, G.; Emma, L.C.; Strickland, G.; Hatch, L.P.

doi:10.1021/i260023a010

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…[ 8 ] Work at BNL was targeted at development of a continuous glass-melting process for the treatment of Purex-type wastes, nitric acid solutions of the fission products and residual salts from the extraction of uranium and plutonium, together with corrosion products. Development of the BNL process was carried out through pilot-scale testing using simulated waste solutions.…”

Section: Literature Review Of Phosphate Glasses and Glass-ceramicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Temperature Glasses for Hanford Tank Wastes.

Cao¹

1995

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TWRS wastes contain certain chemical components which, either because of their limited solubility or volatilization at high temperatures, present problems for conventional vitrification technologies. The current task completed by BNL concerns the use of low temperature glasses for tank waste remediation. A literature review of existing technologies highlighted lead-iron-phosphate glasses, with melt temperatures of around 900ºC, as a significant improvement over existing borosilicate formulations. However, concerns over leachability of the high lead levels in the glass matrix has kindled interest in the development of lead-free phosphate glasses.As part of this current task, crucible studies were performed to scope the potential of advanced phosphate glasses. Based on pioneer work on iron-aluminum-phosphate and tin-phosphate glasses, new formulations were investigated, modified with cations to enhance chemical durability and reduce melt temperatures. Dissolution of matrix metals using a standard leach test, the Product Characterization Test (PCT), was the basis used to evaluate the new glasses.Cursory results indicate that low-temperature glasses can indeed be prepared with melt temperatures between 450 and 900ºC. Durability of these glasses and composites compares favorably with lead-iron-phosphate glasses, and is an improvement over reference borosilicate formulations. The capacity to incorporate high percentages of sodium was demonstrated, however much wastespecific work will be required to further qualify and quantify treatability of tank waste components.

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Section: Literature Review Of Phosphate Glasses and Glass-ceramicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Temperature Glasses for Hanford Tank Wastes.

Cao¹

1995

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“…The major development of phosphate waste glasses started at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Tuthill, 1967) and culminated in the manufacure of 11 canisters of radioactive phosphate waste glass during the Waste Solidification Engineering Prototypes (WSEP) program at PNL (McElroy, 1970;McElroy, 1971). The WSEP program showed that phosphate glass had several shortcomings when compared with silicate glasses.…”

Section: Glass-ceramic Waste Glassesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Storage and disposal of radioactive waste as glass in canisters

Mendel¹

1978

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“…They are estimates based on published data for the many solidification processes described in Section 2. The DFs for volatilized ( 2 ) ruthenium were taken largely from the review by Christian .…”

Section: Decontamination Factors Of Individual Off-gas System Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decontamination factors for volatilized ruthenium across the off-gas components are difficult to estimate from data obtained from other processes because the principal ruthenium vapor species is probably different at the high temperature (2) . The difference arises because air oxidation becomes significant at the higher tenperature and NO2, which stablizes the gas species formed in lower temperature processes, is dissociated.…”

Section: German Pamela Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The quantity volatilized can be controlled somewhat by operational procedures. In-bed combustion of kerosene controls ruthenium volatility in a fluidized-bed calciner to less than 0.01% (2,37) When a fluidized-bed calciner is heated indirectly, the ruthenium volatility is high at low temperatures but decreases with increasing temperature (2,37) Denitration of the HLLW, either batchwise prior to calcining or continuously during calcination will suppress the ruthenium volatility from the calciner significantly. Generally, the volatility from denitrated feed is less than 0.01% in fluidizedbed and spray calciners.…”

Section: Ruthenium Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Critical assessment of methods for treating airborne effluents from high-level waste solidification processes

Christian¹,

Pence²

1977

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Yhir r e p r t was preprcd as an account of work Iponwrcd by tha Unitcd Strm w m m t . A brief description of each of the processes is given and detailed anaylses are made of the expected magnitudes of airborne effluent release rates from each system. The estimated release rates of the various processes are compared with present and anticipated regulatory limits. A number of recommendations are made for additional development studies to better understand and control certain airborne effluents from the solidification processes.Off-gas treatment systems are reviewed for high-temperature processes which are being developed for the solidification of high-level liquid wastes (HLLW) from nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Brief descriptions of the individual processes and details of their off-gas systems are given in Section 2. Detailed analyses of the expected efficiencies of the individual systems for removing airborne radionuclide effluents generated by the processes are given in Section 3. A summary of the estimated feed-to-stack decontamination factors (DFs) for all the processes is given in Section 3.12.The maximum permissible concentrations (MPCs) for individual isotopes in air for uncontrolled areas as tabulated in 10CFR20 were compared with the recently established EPA standards (40CFR190), using the anticipated processing conditions: design fuel burnup, fuel cooled 1% years 'from reactor discharge; processing rate of 6 2/3 MTlDZ/day; and a dispersion factor, x / Q , from the stack to the site boundary of 1 x sec m-3. The results of the analysis show that the EPA release limits for a-emitting transuranics restricts the release rate of Cm-244 to some 3000 times less than that allowed by the 10CFR20 TfPCs. The new EPA regulations make Cm-244 the radionuclide for which the most stringent control is required in a waste solidification process. Assuming 10% of the maximum allowable fuel cycle release limit for a-emitting transuranics are allowed to become airborne in the waste solidifier stack gas, an estimated feed-to-stack DF of 9

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Phosphate Glass Process for Disposal of High Level Radioactive Wastes

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

Low Temperature Glasses for Hanford Tank Wastes.

Low Temperature Glasses for Hanford Tank Wastes.

Storage and disposal of radioactive waste as glass in canisters

Critical assessment of methods for treating airborne effluents from high-level waste solidification processes

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