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Glass Development for Vitrification of Wet Intermediate Level Waste (WILW) from Decommissionning of the Hinkley Point ‘A’ Site

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Paul A Bingham ,
Neil C Hyatt ,
Russell J Hand  and
Christopher R Wilding
Paul A Bingham
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of Sheffield, Department of Engineering Materials, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Neil C Hyatt
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of Sheffield, Department of Engineering Materials, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Russell J Hand
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of Sheffield, Depa, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Christopher R Wilding
Affiliation:
[email protected], Magnox South Ltd., Hinkley Point 'A 'Site, Bridgwater, Somerset, United Kingdom
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Abstract

The Immobilisation Science Laboratory, University of Sheffield, is working with Magnox South Ltd to develop a range of glass formulations that are suitable for vitrification of the Wet Intermediate Level Waste (WILW) envelope arising from decommissioning of the Hinkley Point ‘A’ (HPA) power station. Four waste mixtures or permutations are under consideration for volume reduction and immobilisation by vitrification. The inorganic fractions of several of the wastes are suitable for vitrification as they largely consist of SiO2, MgO, Fe2O3, Na2O, Al2O3 and CaO. However, difficulties may arise from the high organic and sulphurous contents of certain waste streams, particularly spent ion exchange (IEX) resins. IEX resin wastes may be the key factor in limiting waste loading, and possible thermal pretreatments of IEX resin to decrease C and S contents prior to vitrification have been investigated. Our results suggest that lowtemperature (90 °C) pretreatment is more favourable than hightemperature (250, 450, 1000 °C) pretreatment. A thorough desktop study has provided initial candidate glass compositions which have been downselected on the basis of glass forming ability, melting temperature, viscosity, liquidus temperature, chemical durability and potential sulphate capacity. Early results for two of the candidate glass formulations indicate that formation of an amorphous product with at least 35 wt % (dry waste) loading is achievable for HPA IEX resin wastes.

Keywords

waste managementnuclear materialsamorphous
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1124: Symposium Q – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXII , 2008 , 1124-Q03-07
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

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References

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