Interfacial Investigations of Nuclear Waste Forms
EMSL Project ID
42495
Abstract
EMSL resources are requested to enable an international team of collaborators to solve fundamental problems in interfacial glass corrosion chemistry. With the recent dismissal of Yucca Mountain as a national nuclear waste repository and increasing international interest on developing the recycling of used nuclear fuel, there is a pressing need to reevaluate the current methods of processing nuclear waste. The preferred method for high-level waste (HLW) disposition is vitrification: incorporating radioactive cations directly into the structure of a glass. This results in a highly durable waste product. However, the current US models for the corrosion of high level waste (HLW) glasses were developed for a mixed-waste repository system and are highly conservative. An international collaboration (USA, UK, France, Japan, and Belgium) was recently developed to investigate unresolved issues in glass corrosion phenomena, mechanisms, and processes. Limited understanding in this area has limited the performance of the best corrosion models to date. Research projects are ongoing in this area, and we are proposing to leverage EMSL resources to enhance the results of these experiments through the coupling of computational chemistry with state-of-the-art interfacial analysis. It is anticipated that these experiments will lead to significant revisions to corrosion theory, greater international consensus in high-level waste disposition, and a more accurate model for the dissolution of HLW glasses. With a strong, consensus corrosion model, the extraordinary durability of waste glasses can be leveraged for efficient disposal, representing a real opportunity to improve long-term international nuclear waste storage.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2010-10-20
End Date
2011-10-23
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members
Related Publications
Gin S, A Abdelouas, LJ Criscenti, WL Ebert, K Ferrand, T Geisler, MT Harrison, Y Inagaki, S mitsui, KT Mueller, JC Marra, CG Pantano, EM Pierce, JV Ryan, JM Schofield, CI Steefel, and JD Vienna. 2013. "An international initiative on long-term behavior of high-level nuclear waste glass." Materials Today 16(6):243-248. doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2013.06.008.
Murphy KA, NM Washton, JV Ryan, CG Pantano, and KT Mueller. 2013. "Solid-State NMR Examination of Alteration Layers on a Nuclear Waste Glass." Journal of Non-crystalline Solids 369:44-54. doi:10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2013.03.021