Vitrification of High Chrome Oxide Nuclear Waste in Iron Phosphate Glasses
Abstract
A simulated high level waste (HLW) containing 4 mass% chrome oxide, whose overall composition is representative of the high chrome oxide wastes at Hanford WA USA, was easily vitrified in a phosphate glass at temperatures ranging from 1150 °C, for waste loadings of 55 mass%, to 1250 °C for waste loadings of 75 mass%. Even at these high waste loadings, these wasteforms had an excellent chemical durability. The best chemical durability was achieved when the O/(Si + P) atomic ratio was between 3.5 and 3.8. These wasteforms were also resistant to crystallization although trace amounts of crystalline Cr2O3 were present in wasteforms containing more than 70 mass% HLW. It is concluded that up to 45 mass% of the total HLW at Hanford, especially that containing as high as 4.5 mass% chrome oxide, could be directly vitrified into an iron phosphate glass, that meets all of the current chemical durability requirements by simply adding 25-35 mass% P2O5 to the waste and melting the mixture at 1150-1250 °C for a few (<6) hours.
Recommended Citation
W. Huang et al., "Vitrification of High Chrome Oxide Nuclear Waste in Iron Phosphate Glasses," Journal of Nuclear Materials, Elsevier Inc., Jan 2004.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2004.01.021
Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
High Chrome Oxide; Iron Phosphate Glass; Nuclear Waste; Vitrification
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0022-3115
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2004 Elsevier Inc., All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2004
