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The Role Of Chemical Reaction In Waste-Form Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

P. L. Chambré ,
C. H. Kang ,
W. W.-L. Lee  and
T. H. Pigford
P. L. Chambré
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
C. H. Kang
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
W. W.-L. Lee
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
T. H. Pigford
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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Abstract

The dissolution rate of waste solids in a geologic repository is a complex function of waste form geometry, chemical reaction rate, exterior flow field, and chemical environment. We present here an analysis to determine the steady-state mass transfer rate, over the entire range of flow conditions relevant to geologic disposal of nuclear waste. The equations for steady-state mass transfer with a chemical-reaction-rate boundary condition are solved by three different mathematical techniques which supplement each other. This theory is illustrated with laboratory leach data for borosilicate-glass and a spherical spent-fuel waste form under typical repository conditions. For borosilicate glass waste in the temperature range of 57°C to 250°C, dissolution rate in a repository is determined for a wide range of chemical reaction rates and for Peclet numbers from zero to well over 100, far beyond any Peclet values expected in a repository. Spent-fuel dissolution in a repository is also investigated, based on the limited leach data now available.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 112: Symposium P – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XI , 1987 , 285
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1988

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References

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