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Effects of Composition Variations on Microstructure and Chemical Durability of West Valley Reference Glass.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

A. C. Buechele ,
X. Feng ,
H. Gu ,
I. S. Muller ,
W. Wagner  and
I. L. Pegg
A. C. Buechele
Affiliation:
The Vitreous State Laboratory, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 20064.
X. Feng
Affiliation:
The Vitreous State Laboratory, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 20064.
H. Gu
Affiliation:
The Vitreous State Laboratory, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 20064.
I. S. Muller
Affiliation:
The Vitreous State Laboratory, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 20064.
W. Wagner
Affiliation:
The Vitreous State Laboratory, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 20064.
I. L. Pegg
Affiliation:
The Vitreous State Laboratory, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 20064.
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Abstract

Glasses suitable for high-level nuclear waste vitrification must meet a number of requirements including processability, durability, and phase stability. Our new data indicate that the West Valley Reference 5 composition meets these requirements: it is phase stable over the expected range of melter temperatures and residence times, and only minimal (<2 vol %) secondary phase formation, consisting predominantly of iron-group spinels, is expected in the canister cooled glass. Leach tests have shown that the durability of Reference 5 is significantly less sensitive to spinel formation than the earlier Reference 4. However, natural process variations during production will result in a range of glass compositions around the nominal composition. In this paper we report on the effects of composition changes around Reference 5 on the phase stability upon heat treatment and the consequent effects on chemical durability. Since variations in the waste-stream levels of most major components can be accommodated by adjusting the quantities of the glass-forming additives we focus here on a group of components for which this is generally not the case: Ca, Ce, Cr, Mn, Ni, S, and Fe. While many of these components are present at below 1 wt % they could have potentially significant indirect effects on product durability due to enhancement of secondary phase formation. The results provide a data base to support broad (≥300%) tolerance ranges to variation of levels of most of these components. Viscosity data are also reported.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 212: Symposium P – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XIV , 1990 , 141
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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References

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