Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-17T17:05:09.512Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of Radiation Exposure on SRL 131 Composition Glass in a Steam Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

D. J. Wronkiewicz ,
C. R. Bradley ,
J. K. Bates  and
L. M. Wang
D. J. Wronkiewicz
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439
C. R. Bradley
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439
J. K. Bates
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439
L. M. Wang
Affiliation:
Dept. of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
Get access

Abstract

Monoliths of SRL 131 borosilicate glass were irradiated in a saturated air-steam environment, at temperatures of 150°C, to examine the effects of radiation on nuclear waste glass behavior. Half of the tests used actinide and Tc-99 doped glass and were exposed to an external ionizing gamma source, while the remaining glass samples were doped only with uranium and were reacted without any external radiation exposure. The effects of radiation exposure on glass alteration and secondary phase formation were determined by comparing the reaction rates and mineral paragenesis of the two sets of samples.

All glass samples readily reacted with the water that condensed on their surfaces, producing two types of smectite clay within the first three days of testing. Additional crystalline phases precipitated on the altered glass surface with increasing reaction times, including zeolites, smectite, calcium and sodium silicates, phosphates, evaporitic salts, and uranyl silicates. Similar phases were produced on both the nonirradiated and irradiated samples; however, the quantity of precipitates was increased and the rate of paragenetic sequence development was accelerated in the latter. After 56 days of testing, the composite smectite layer developed at an average rate of ~0.16 and 0.63 µm/day for the nonirradiated and irradiated samples, respectively. These comparisons indicate that layer development is accelerated approximately four-fold due to the radiation exposure at high glass surface area/liquid volume (SA/V) conditions. This increase apparently occurs in response to the rapid concentration of radiolytic products, including nitric acid, in the thin films of water contacting the sample monoliths.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 333: Symposium V – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XVII , 1993 , 259
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1 Burns, W. G., Hughes, A. E., Marples, J. A. C., Nelson, R. S., and Stoneham, A. M., J. Nucl. Mater. 107, 245 (1982).Google Scholar
2 Barkatt, A., Barkatt, A., and Sousanpour, W., Nucl. Technol. 60, 218 (1983).Google Scholar
3 Weber, W. J. and Roberts, F. P., Nucl. Technol. 60, 178 (1983).Google Scholar
4 Reed, D. T. and Van Konynenburg, R. A., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 112, 393–404 (1987).Google Scholar
5 Wronkiewicz, D. J., Young, J. E., and Bates, J. K., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 212, 99–106 (1991).Google Scholar
6 Wronkiewicz, D. J., Wang, L M., Bates, J. K., and Tani, B. S., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 294, 183–190 (1993).Google Scholar
7 Wronkiewicz, D. J., “Radionuclide Decay Effects on Waste Glass Corrosion and Weathering” (this volume).Google Scholar
8 Wronkiewicz, D. J. and Bates, J. K., “Alpha and Gamma Radiation Effects on Air-Water Systems at High Gas/Liquid Ratios,” Submitted to Nuclear Technology. Google Scholar
9 L McVay, G., Weber, W. J., and Pederson, L R., Nucl. and Chem. Waste Mgmt. 2, 103 (1981).Google Scholar
10 Wronkiewicz, D. J., Bradley, C. R., and Bates, J. K., Geol. Soc. Am. Abst. 25, A-185 (1993).Google Scholar
11 Abrajano, T. A. Jr., Bates, J. K., and Mazer, J. J., J. Non-Cryst. Sol. 108, 269 (1989).Google Scholar
12 Wicks, G. G., Mosley, W. C., Whitkop, P. G., and Saturday, K. A., J. Non-Cryst. Sol. 49, 413 (1982).Google Scholar
13 Biwer, B. M., Bates, J. K., Abrajano, T. A. Jr., and Bradley, J. P., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. l76, 255–263 (1990).Google Scholar