Key Parameters of Glass Dissolution in Integrated Systems

1990 ◽  
Vol 212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Y. Vernaz ◽  
Nicole Godon

ABSTRACTLeaching cells were designed to test the alterability of nuclear waste glasses under conditions closely simulating an actual geological repository. This paper summarizes the results of twenty long-duration tests simulating a variety of storage conditions. The effects of the backfilling materials, the canister, glass cracking and crystallization, a activity and the nature of the host rock are discussed. Moreover, an experiment has been in progress for over seven years in a granite medium; after three years the corrosion rate dropped to about 2 × 10−3 g m−2 d−1, and is sustained only by the water renewal due to sampling at regular intervals. These results constitute a valuable data base on R7T7 glass alteration in geological media at 90°C. Glass alteration mechanisms described in pure water appear to be applicable to a hard rock medium. In clay and salt, however, considerable work remains to be done before environmental factors can be taken into account in an overall dissolution model.

2002 ◽  
Vol 713 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gauthier ◽  
P. Le Coustumer ◽  
J-H. Thomassin

ABSTRACTThe goal of this study is to understand the role of the interface developed during R7T7 glass alteration. This glass has been leached in two different aqueous media (pure water, silica rich water and phosphorous rich water). The lixiviation tests have been optimized to assess the role of the alteration layer developed on the surface of the glass. The solution and the solid have been characterized by ICP-MS and TEM/X-EDS respectively. The results put in evidence that a complex alteration layer is formed. Its texture, structure and chemistry are discussed with respect to the evolution of the solution during the tests. The alteration layer is always present on the surface of the glass and is considered to control (at short time) diffusion of the different species through the layer. Further study must be undertaken to assess the evolution and the stability of the interface for longer time periods.


1994 ◽  
Vol 353 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Advocat ◽  
J. L. Crovisier ◽  
A. Clement ◽  
F. Gerard ◽  
E. Vernaz

AbstractThe deep underground environment that would correspond to a geological repository is a system open to fluid flow. It is therefore necessary to investigate the effects of solution renewal on the long-term behavior of glass in contact with water. These effects can now be simulated using the new version of the geochemical Kindis model (thermodynamic and kinetic model).We tested the model at 90°C with an SAIV ratio of 400 m−1 at twelve renewal rates of pure water ranging from 200 to 0 vol% per day. With renewal rates between 200 and 0.065 vol% per day, steady-state conditions were obtained in the reaction system: i.e. the glass corrosion rate remained constant as did the concentrations of the dissolved species in solution (although at different values depending on the renewal rate). The ionic strength never exceeded 1 (the validity limit for the Debye-Huckel law) and long term predictions of the dissolved glass mass, the solution composition and the potential secondary mineral sequence are possible. For simulated renewal rates of less than 0.065 vol% per day (27 vol% per year), the ionic strength rose above 1 (as in a closed system) before steady-state conditions were reached, making it critical to calculate long-term rates; A constant and empirical long-term rate, derived from laboratory measurement, have to be extrapolated. These calculations were based on a first order equation to describe the glass dissolution kinetics. The results obtained with the KINDIS code show discrepancies with some major experimental kinetic data (the long term rate must decrease with the « glass-water » reaction progress, under silica saturation conditions). This clearly indicates that a more refine kinetic relation is needed for the glass matrix.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Carriere ◽  
P. Dillmann ◽  
S. Gin ◽  
D. Neff ◽  
L. Gentaz ◽  
...  

AbstractThe French concept developed to dispose high-level radioactive waste in geological repository relies on glassy waste forms, isolated from the claystone host rock by steel containers. Understanding interactions between glass and surrounding materials is key for assessing the performance of a such system. Here, isotopically tagged SON68 glass, steel and claystone were studied through an integrated mockup conducted at 50 °C for 2.5 years. Post-mortem analyses were performed from nanometric to millimetric scales using TEM, STXM, ToF-SIMS and SEM techniques. The glass alteration layer consisted of a crystallized Fe-rich smectite mineral, close to nontronite, supporting a dissolution/reprecipitation controlling mechanism for glass alteration. The mean glass dissolution rate ranged between 1.6 × 10−2 g m−2 d−1 to 3.0 × 10−2 g m−2 d−1, a value only 3–5 times lower than the initial dissolution rate. Thermodynamic calculations highlighted a competition between nontronite and protective gel, explaining why in the present conditions the formation of a protective layer is prevented.


2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márcia Torres Teixeira ◽  
Henrique Duarte Vieira ◽  
Sílvio Lopes Teixeira ◽  
Roberto Ferreira. da Silva

The technique of Osmotic Conditioning, which consists of partial and controlled hydration of the seeds, has obtained success with various species of seeds, increasing the germinating span and tolerance to the adverse conditions of the environment, and has also reduced the time elapsed between sowing and the emergence of the plants. Associated to ideal storage conditions, the treatment has increased the performance of the seeds of tropical wood species. Aiming at studying the germinating environment and the effect of osmotic conditioning on the germination of seeds of the Australian Royal Palm tree, two experiments were performed. The first one evaluated the effect of disinfestation of the seeds of the Australian Royal Palm tree with NaClO. The treatments applied were: 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, exposure periods of 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 and 240 minutes, and the fungicide Captan, as control. The treatments with NaClO did not differ in relation to the final percentage of germination and to the germination speed index, and did not differ from the treatment control. The second test evaluated solutions with the following osmotic potentials: 0.0MPa (pure water), -0.4MPa, -0.6MPa and -0.8MPa, exposed for the periods of 10 and 20 days. The final percentage of germination did not differ among the treatments. The seeds hydrated in pure water for a period of 20 days showed a germination speed index significantly superior to the other treatments, and they did not show significant differences among themselves.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Debure ◽  
Yannick Linard ◽  
Christelle Martin ◽  
Francis Claret

Abstract Silicate glasses are durable materials but laboratory experiments reveal that elements that derive from their environment may induce high corrosion rates and reduce their capacity to confine high-level radioactive waste. This study investigates nuclear-glass corrosion in geological media using an in situ diffusion experiment and multi-component diffusion modelling. The model highlights that the pH imposed by the Callovo–Oxfordian (COx) claystone host rock supports secondary-phase precipitation and increases glass corrosion compared with pure water. Elements from the COx rock (mainly Mg and Fe) form secondary phases with Si provided by the glass, which delay the establishment of a passivating interface. The presence of elements (Mg and Fe) that sustain glass alteration does not prevent a significant decrease in the glass-alteration rate, mainly due to the limited species transport that drives system reactivity. These improvements in the understanding of glass corrosion in its environment provide further insights for predictive modelling over larger timescales and space.


Author(s):  
Donald Wayne Lewis

In the United States (U.S.) the nuclear waste issue has plagued the nuclear industry for decades. Originally, spent fuel was to be reprocessed but with the threat of nuclear proliferation, spent fuel reprocessing has been eliminated, at least for now. In 1983, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 [1] was established, authorizing development of one or more spent fuel and high-level nuclear waste geological repositories and a consolidated national storage facility, called a “Monitored Retrievable Storage” facility, that could store the spent nuclear fuel until it could be placed into the geological repository. Plans were under way to build a geological repository, Yucca Mountain, but with the decision by President Obama to terminate the development of Yucca Mountain, a consolidated national storage facility that can store spent fuel for an interim period until a new repository is established has become very important. Since reactor sites have not been able to wait for the government to come up with a storage or disposal location, spent fuel remains in wet or dry storage at each nuclear plant. The purpose of this paper is to present a concept developed to address the DOE’s goals stated above. This concept was developed over the past few months by collaboration between the DOE and industry experts that have experience in designing spent nuclear fuel facilities. The paper examines the current spent fuel storage conditions at shutdown reactor sites, operating reactor sites, and the type of storage systems (transportable versus non-transportable, welded or bolted). The concept lays out the basis for a pilot storage facility to house spent fuel from shutdown reactor sites and then how the pilot facility can be enlarged to a larger full scale consolidated interim storage facility.


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