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Performance Assessment of Zircon as a Waste Form for Excess Weapons Plutonium Under Deep Borehole Burial Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

W. J. Weber ,
R. C. Ewing  and
W. Lutze
W. J. Weber
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352
R. C. Ewing
Affiliation:
Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
W. Lutze
Affiliation:
Dept. of Chemical and Nuclear Engr., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
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Abstract

Zircon (ZrSiO4) is proposed as a waste form for excess weapons-grade plutonium. Zircon is an extremely durable ceramic that is often found as an accessory mineral in Precambrian terranes with ages up to 4 billion years. The chemical durability of zircon in groundwater far exceeds that of other waste forms, as modeled leach rates may be as low as 10-11 g/m2d. At least 10 wt% Pu can substitute for Zr in zircon. Self-radiation damage from alpha decay leads to a crystalline-to-amorphous transformation that is modeled as a function of time and temperature for deep borehole conditions. Based on the results of this assessment, zircon could meet all necessary durability and criticality criteria required for a Pu waste form. The types of data used in this analysis are generally not available for other crystalline ceramics or glasses.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 412: Symposium V – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XIX , 1995 , 25
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1996

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