Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Environmental conditions in a repository are expected to be significantly different from those encountered by a glass tested under MCC-1 specifications. In addition to variations in flow rate and glass surface area to water volume ratio (SA/V), the water chemistry and presence of waste package components in the repository will most certainly affect the leaching behavior of the glass. The independent effects of each of these variables have been studied by numerous investigators. For example, it is well known that the leaching rate increases as the flow rate increases (1). Also, the rate of approach to saturation is increased as SA/V is increased under MCC-1 type testing (2). The use of silicate water generally decreases the rate of leaching while waste package components such as iron enhances the leaching rate of glass under MCC-1 type testing (3–4).