Progress on Ongoing Waste form HIP projects at ANSTO

MRS Advances ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (20) ◽  
pp. 1059-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R. Vance ◽  
Dorji T. Chavara ◽  
Daniel J. Gregg
Keyword(s):  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Hot Isostatic Pressing ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
Process Technology ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
Waste Forms ◽  
Produce Glass ◽  
Form Development ◽  
Year 2000

Abstract:Since the year 2000, Synroc has evolved from the titanate full-ceramic waste forms developed in the late 1970s to a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) technology platform that can be applied to produce glass, glass–ceramic, and ceramic waste forms and where there are distinct advantages over vitrification in terms of, for example, waste loading and suppressing volatile losses. This paper describes recent progress on waste form development for intermediate-level wastes from 99Mo production at ANSTO, spent nuclear fuel, fluoride pyroprocessing wastes and 129I. The microstructures and aqueous dissolution results are presented where applicable. This paper provides perspective on Synroc waste forms and recent process technology development in the nuclear waste management industry.

scholarly journals Synroc development—Past and present applications

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R. Vance ◽  
Dorji T. Chavara ◽  
Daniel J. Gregg
Keyword(s):  
Glass Ceramic ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Process Technology ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
Waste Forms ◽  
Produce Glass ◽  
Waste Loading

ABSTRACTSynroc has evolved over the last 40 years from the titanate full-ceramics developed in the late 1970s to a technology platform that can be applied to produce glass, glass–ceramic, and ceramic waste forms and where there are distinct advantages in terms of waste loading and suppressing volatile losses.A first of a kind Synroc plant for immobilizing intermediate level waste arising from Mo-99 production is currently in detailed engineering at ANSTO.Since the year 2000, Synroc has evolved from the titanate full-ceramics developed in the late 1970s to a technology platform that can be applied to produce glass, glass–ceramic, and ceramic waste forms and where there are distinct advantages in terms of waste loading and suppressing volatile losses. Furthermore recent efforts have focused strongly on waste form development for plutonium-bearing wastes in the UK, for different options for the immobilization of Idaho calcines and most recently developing an engineered waste form for the intermediate level wastes arising from 99Mo production, for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). A variety of other studies are currently in progress, including engineered waste forms for spent fuel and investigating the proliferation risks for titanate-based waste forms containing highly enriched uranium or plutonium. This paper also attempts to give some perspective on Synroc waste forms and process technology development in the nuclear waste management industry.

Advantages Hot Isostatically Pressed Ceramic and Glass-Ceramic Waste Forms Bring to the Immobilization of Challenging Intermediate- and High-Level Nuclear Wastes

2010 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 130-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R. Vance ◽  
S. Moricca ◽  
Bruce D. Begg ◽  
M.W.A. Stewart ◽  
Y. Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glass Ceramic ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Hot Isostatic Pressing ◽  
Batch Process ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
Waste Forms ◽  
Simulated Waste ◽  
Process Line ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level

Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is a technology with wide applicability in consolidating calcined intermediate-level and high-level nuclear waste, especially with wastes that are not able to be readily processed by vitrification at reasonable waste loadings. The essential process steps during the HIP cycle will be outlined. We have demonstrated the effective consolidation via HIP technology of a wide variety of tailored glass-ceramic and ceramic waste forms, notably simulated ICPP waste calcines, I sorbed upon zeolite beads, Pu-bearing wastes, inactive Cs/Sr/Rb/Ba mixtures, simulated waste pyroprocessing salts from spent nuclear fuel recycling, Tc, U-rich isotope production waste, and simulated K-basin (Hanford, WA, USA) and Magnox sludges (UK). Can-ceramic interactions have been carefully studied. The principal advantages of the HIP technology include: negligible offgas during the high temperature consolidation step, relatively small footprint, and high waste loadings. As a batch process, the wasteform chemistry can be readily adjusted on a given process line, to deliver wastes into different end states (e.g. direct HIP versus chemically tailored). This flexibility allows the treatment of multiple waste streams on the one process line.

Synroc tailored waste forms for actinide immobilization

2017 ◽  
Vol 105 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Gregg ◽  
Eric R. Vance
Keyword(s):  
Glass Ceramic ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
Borosilicate Glasses ◽  
Process Technology ◽  
Treatment Technology ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
Waste Forms ◽  
Glass Matrices ◽  
Key Aspects

AbstractSince the end of the 1970s, Synroc at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has evolved from a focus on titanate ceramics directed at PUREX waste to a platform waste treatment technology to fabricate tailored glass–ceramic and ceramic waste forms for different types of actinide, high- and intermediate level wastes. The particular emphasis for Synroc is on wastes which are problematic for glass matrices or existing vitrification process technologies. In particular, nuclear wastes containing actinides, notably plutonium, pose a unique set of requirements for a waste form, which Synroc ceramic and glass-ceramic waste forms can be tailored to meet. Key aspects to waste form design include maximising the waste loading, producing a chemically durable product, maintaining flexibility to accommodate waste variations, a proliferation resistance to prevent theft and diversion, and appropriate process technology to produce waste forms that meet requirements for actinide waste streams. Synroc waste forms incorporate the actinides within mineral phases, producing products which are much more durable in water than baseline borosilicate glasses. Further, Synroc waste forms can incorporate neutron absorbers and

scholarly journals Effect of Different Glass and Zeolite-a Compositions on the Leach Resistance of Ceramic Waste Forms

1996 ◽  
Vol 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Lewis ◽  
M. Hash ◽  
D. Glandorf
Keyword(s):  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Hot Isostatic Pressing ◽  
Argonne National Laboratory ◽  
Fission Products ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
Zeolite A ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
Leach Test ◽  
Salt Phase

ABSTRACTA ceramic waste form is being developed at Argonne National Laboratory for waste generated during the electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. The waste is generated when fission products are removed from the electrolyte, LiCI-KCl eutectic. The ceramic waste form is a composite, fabricated by hot isostatic pressing a mixture of glass frit and zeolite occluded with fission products and salt. Past work has shown that the normalized release rate (NRR) is less than 1 g/m2d for all elements in a Material Characterization Center-Type 1 (MCC-1) leach test run for 28 days in deionized water at 90°C (363 K). This leach resistance is comparable to that of early Savannah River glasses. We are investigating how leach resistance is affected by changes in the cationic form of zeolite and in the glass composition. Composites were made with three forms of zeolite A and six glasses. We used three-day ASTM C1220–92 (formerly MCC-1) leach tests to screen samples for development purposes only. The leach test results show that the glass composites of zeolites 5A and 4A retain fission products equally well. The loss of cesium is small, varying from 0.1 to 0.5 wt%, while the loss of divalent and trivalent fission products is one or more orders of magnitude smaller. Composites of 5A retain chloride ion better in these short-term screens than 4A and 3A. The more leach resistant composites were made with durable glasses that were rich in silica and poor in alkaline earth oxides. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that a salt phase was absent in the leach resistant composites of 5A and the better glasses but was present in the other composites with poorer leach performance. Thus, the data show that the absence of a salt phase in a composite's XRD pattern corresponds to improved leach resistance. The data also suggest that the interactions between the zeolite and glass depend on the composition of both.

Aging Studies of Pu-238 and -239 Containing Calcium Phosphate Ceramic Waste-forms

2013 ◽  
Vol 1518 ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley K. Fong ◽  
Brian L. Metcalfe ◽  
Randall D. Scheele ◽  
Denis M. Strachan
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Phosphate ◽  
Accelerated Aging ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
Calcium Phosphate Ceramic ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
Waste Forms ◽  
Aging Studies ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Pyrochemical Reprocessing

ABSTRACTA calcium phosphate ceramic waste-form has been developed at AWE for the immobilisation of chloride containing wastes arising from the pyrochemical reprocessing of plutonium. In order to determine the long term durability of the waste-form, aging trials have been carried out at PNNL. Ceramics were prepared using Pu-239 and -238, these were characterised by PXRD at regular intervals and Single Pass Flow Through (SPFT) tests after approximately 5 yrs.While XRD indicated some loss of crystallinity in the Pu-238 samples after exposure to 2.8 x 1018 α decays, SPFT tests indicated that accelerated aging had not had a detrimental effect on the durability of Pu-238 samples compared to Pu-239 waste-forms.

TEM Analysis of Corrosion Products From a Radioactive Stainless Steel-based Alloy

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (S2) ◽  
pp. 368-369
Author(s):  
N.L. Dietz ◽  
D.D Keiser
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Argonne National Laboratory ◽  
Fission Products ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
Metallic Sodium ◽  
Geologic Repository ◽  
Tem Analysis ◽  
Waste Forms

Argonne National Laboratory has developed an electrometallurgical treatment process for metallic spent nuclear fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II. This process stabilizes metallic sodium and separates usable uranium from fission products and transuranic elements that are contained in the fuel. The fission products and other waste constituents are placed into two waste forms: a ceramic waste form that contains the transuranic elements and active fission products such as Cs, Sr, I and the rare earth elements, and a metal alloy waste form composed primarily of stainless steel (SS), from claddings hulls and reactor hardware, and ∼15 wt.% Zr (from the U-Zr and U-Pu-Zr alloy fuels). The metal waste form (MWF) also contains noble metal fission products (Tc, Nb, Ru, Rh, Te, Ag, Pd, Mo) and minor amounts of actinides. Both waste forms are intended for eventual disposal in a geologic repository.

scholarly journals Characterization of Composite Ceramic High Level Waste Forms

1997 ◽  
Vol 481 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Frank ◽  
K. J. Bateman ◽  
T. DiSanto ◽  
S. G. Johnson ◽  
T. L. Moschetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Argonne National Laboratory ◽  
Fission Products ◽  
Composite Ceramic ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
Chloride Form ◽  
Physical Measurements ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACTArgonne National Laboratory has developed a composite ceramic waste form for the disposition of high level radioactive waste produced during electrometallurgical conditioning of spent nuclear fuel. The electrorefiner LiCl/KCl eutectic salt, containing fission products and transuranics in the chloride form, is contacted with a zeolite material which removes the fission products from the salt. After salt contact, the zeolite is mixed with a glass binder. The zeolite/glass mixture is then hot isostatic pressed (HIPed) to produce the composite ceramic waste form. The ceramic waste form provides a durable medium that is well suited to incorporate fission products and transuranics in the chloride form. Presented are preliminary results of the process qualification and characterization studies, which include chemical and physical measurements and product durability testing, of the ceramic waste form.

scholarly journals Development of a ceramic waste form for high-level waste disposal

1999 ◽  
Vol 556 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Esh ◽  
K. M. Goff ◽  
K. T. Hirsche ◽  
T. J. Battisti ◽  
M. F. Simpson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Argonne National Laboratory ◽  
Fission Products ◽  
Waste Form ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Durability Test ◽  
Ceramic Waste ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

AbstractA ceramic waste form is being developed by Argonne National Laboratory* (ANL) as part of the demonstration of the electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel [1]. The halide, alkaline earth, alkali, transuranic, and rare earth fission products are stabilized in zeolite which is combined with glass and processed in a hot isostatic press (HIP) to form a ceramic composite. The mineral sodalite is formed in the HIP from the zeolite precursor. The process, from starting materials to final product, is relatively simple. An overview of the processing operations is given. The metrics that have been developed to measure the success or completion of processing operations are developed and discussed. The impact of variability in processing metrics on the durability of the final product is presented. The process is demonstrated to be robust for the type and range of operation metrics considered and the performance metric (PCT durability test) against which the operation metrics are evaluated.

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