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Fabrication and Leach Testing of Synroc Containing Actinides and Fission Products

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

K. D. Reeve ,
D. M. Levins ,
B. W. Seatonberry ,
R. K. Ryan ,
K. P. Hart  and
G. T. Stevens
K. D. Reeve
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
D. M. Levins
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
B. W. Seatonberry
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
R. K. Ryan
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
K. P. Hart
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
G. T. Stevens
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.
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Abstract

Synroc containing mixed fission products and four actinides (237Np, 239Pu, 241Am and 244Cm) was fabricated by hot pressing on a 75 g-scale in separate hot-cell and glove-box facilities. Samples were physically characterised by density, which ranged from 98.2 to 99.1% of theoretical, by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by the cc-track etch technique to determine the distribution of actinide elements.

The chemical durability of specimens prepared from the hot-pressed Synroc was determined in 460 leach tests carried out under static conditions at 70°C. Release of 137Cs dominated the fission-product source term while 237Np was the most leachable actinide element. Short-term release is dominated by the initial spilce from Cs and other readily soluble species at grain boundaries and in non-equilibrium phases. Long-term release is probably controlled by matrix solubility. A phenomenological model is developed which accounts for both short- and long-term release.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 127: Symposium BERLIN – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XII , 1988 , 223
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1989

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References

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