Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T11:20:43.019Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Characterization and Leaching Behavior of Plutonium-Bearing Synroc-C

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

Katherine L. Smith ,
Gregory R. Lumpkin ,
Mark G. Blackford ,
Michelle Hambley ,
R. Arthur Day ,
Kaye P. Hart  and
Adam Jostsons
Katherine L. Smith
Affiliation:
Materials Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
Gregory R. Lumpkin
Affiliation:
Materials Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
Mark G. Blackford
Affiliation:
Materials Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
Michelle Hambley
Affiliation:
Materials Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
R. Arthur Day
Affiliation:
Materials Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
Kaye P. Hart
Affiliation:
Materials Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
Adam Jostsons
Affiliation:
Materials Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
Get access

Abstract

Synroc-C containing 10wt% simulated PW-4b-D HLW including 0.62 wt% 239Pu was subjected to MCC-1 type leach tests at 70°C in deionised water, silicate and carbonate leachates for 53 d and deionised water for 2472 d. The normalised total (i.e. unfiltered leachate + vessel wall) Pu leach rates in deionised water, silicate and carbonate leachates for periods up to 53 d were found to be of the order of 10-5, 10-4 and 10-4 g m-2 d-1 respectively. After 2472 d, the differential, normalised, Pu leach rate in deionised water dropped to ∼5 × 10-6 (total) and ∼5 × 10-8 (solution - after filtration through a 1000NMW filter) g m-2 d-1. SEM and AEM were used to characterise our starting material and investigate the secondary phases on the surfaces of leached Synroc-C discs. Calculated and measured normalised Pu leach rates are compared and the partitioning of Pu between zirconolite and perovskite is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 465: Symposium II – Scienfific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XX , 1996 , 1267
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Jostsons, A., Vance, E.R., Day, R.A., Hart, K.P. and Stewart, M.W.A. (1996), Spectrum '96, International Topical Meeting on Nuclear and Hazardous Waste Management.Google Scholar
2. Ringwood, A.E., Kesson, S.E., Reeve, K.D., Levins, D.M. and Ramm, E.J., in Radioactive Waste Forms for the Future, edited by Lutze, W. and Ewing, R.C. (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1988), p. 233.Google Scholar
3. Vance, E.R. (1994), MRS Bull. 19, 28–32.Google Scholar
4. Smith, K.L., Hart, K.P., Lumpkin, G.R., McGlinn, P.J., Bartlett, J., Lam, P. and Blackford, M.G. (1991), Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc, 212, 167–174.Google Scholar
5. Hart, K.P., Glassley, W.E. and McGlinn, P.J. (1992), Radiochimica Acta, 58/59, 33–35.Google Scholar
6. Sill, C.W. and Williams, R.L. (1981), Anal. Chem., 53, 412–415.Google Scholar
7. Lumpkin, G.R., Smith, K.L. and Blackford, M.G. (1991), J. Mater. Res. 6, 2218–2233.Google Scholar
8. Lumpkin, G.R., Smith, K.L. and Blackford, M.G. (1995), J. Nue. Mater., 224, 31–42.Google Scholar
9. Smith, K.L., Blackford, M.G., Lumpkin, G.R., Hart, K.P. and Robinson, B.J. (1996), Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 412, 313–319.Google Scholar
10. Smith, K.L., Colella, M., Thorogood, G.T., Blackford, M.G., Loi, E., Hart, K.P., Prince, K.E., Lumpkin, G.R. and Jostsons, A. (1996), Proc. Mat. Res. Soc, 465.Google Scholar
11. Matzke, Hj., Toscano, E., Walker, C.T. and Solomah, A.G. (1988), Advanced Ceramic Materials, 3, 285–288.Google Scholar
12. Blackford, M.G., Smith, K.L. and Hart, K.P. (1992), Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc, 257, 243–248.Google Scholar
13. Blackford, M.G. (1996), Improved EDS. ANSTO Mat. Div. internal report, pp. 12.Google Scholar
14. Begg, B.D., Vance, E.R., Conradson, S.D. and Hambley, M. (1996), Proc. Mat. Res. Soc, 465.Google Scholar