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Cement-Based Waste forms for Disposal of Savannah River Plant Low-Level Radioactive Salt Waste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Christine A. Langton
Affiliation:
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina, USA 29808
Michael D. Dukes
Affiliation:
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina, USA 29808
Randolph V. Simmons
Affiliation:
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina, USA 29808
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Abstract

Defense waste processing at the Savannah River Plant will include decontamination and disposal of approximately 100 million liters of soluble salts containing primarily NaNO3, NaOH, NaNO2, NaAl(OH)4, and Na2SO4. A cement-based waste form, “saltstone,” has been designed for disposal of Savannah River Plant low-level radioactive salt waste. Bulk properties of this material have been tailored with respect to salt leach rate, permeability, and compressive strength. Microstructure and mineralogy of leached and unleached specimens were characterized by SEM and X-ray diffraction analyses, respectively. It has been concluded that the salt leach rate can be limited so that amounts of salt and radionuclides in the groundwater at the perimeter of the 100 acre disposal site will not exceed EPA drinking water standards.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1984

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References

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