Materials Research Society, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, (1475), 2012
DOI: 10.1557/opl.2012.578
Full text: Unavailable
ABSTRACTA process has been developed at AWE for the immobilisation of halide containing wastes arising from the reprocessing of plutonium. Initially, the wastes are calcined with a calcium phosphate to form a number of target host phases, β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and apatite for the immobilisation of actinides, and apatite and spodiosite for halide.These mineral phases are then mixed with a glass binder, cold pressed and sintered to form a monolithic waste form. Two glass binders GTI/168, a sodium alumino phosphate glass and GTI/206, a sodium calcium phosphate glass were compared to optimise the halide retention in the waste-form. Analysis from powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that neither glass stabilises spodiosite. However, GTI/206 glass retains 10 wt.% more apatite and results in a much smaller proportion of the non-chloride bearing whitlockite phase than GTI/168.In all compositions where GTI/168 glass was used as a sintering aid, the sodium deficient and calcium enriched glass was present as an amorphous matrix phase.