Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T12:22:45.426Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigation of Processing Parameters for the Consolidation of Actinide Glass-Ceramic Wasteforms by Hot Isostatic Pressing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2017

Stephanie Thornber ,
Paul Heath ,
Ewan Maddrell ,
Martin C. Stennett  and
Neil C. Hyatt
Stephanie Thornber*
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Immobilisation Science Laboratory, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK
Paul Heath
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Immobilisation Science Laboratory, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK
Ewan Maddrell
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Immobilisation Science Laboratory, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK National Nuclear Laboratory, Sellafield, Seascale, Cumbria, CA20 1PG, UK.
Martin C. Stennett
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Immobilisation Science Laboratory, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK
Neil C. Hyatt
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Immobilisation Science Laboratory, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK
*
*(Email: [email protected])
Get access

Abstract

Glass-ceramics were developed initially for the immobilization of miscellaneous Pu-residues at the UK’s Sellafield site from which it was uneconomic to recover Pu for reuse. Renewed interest in the immobilization of a portion of the UK PuO2 stockpile has led to glass-ceramics being evaluated for bulk Pu immobilization. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in the UK have proposed hot isostatic pressing (HIP) as a potential consolidation technique for the processing of these wasteforms. In this study, zirconolite based glass-ceramics were investigated to determine an optimum formulation. The yield of zirconolite is shown to vary with glass composition and glass fraction, such that a higher Al content favours zirconolite formation. The sample preparation process is discussed to highlight the importance of a high temperature heat-treatment during sample preparation to achieve high quality HIPed wasteforms.

Keywords

waste magagementHIPactinide
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Advances , Volume 1 , Issue 63-64: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXIX , 2016 , pp. 4269 - 4274
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Stewart, M.W.A., Moricca, S.A., Vance, E.R., Day, R.A., Maddrell, E.R., Scales, C.R., and Hobbs, J., “Hot-Isostatic Pressing of Chlorine-Containing Plutonium Residues and Wastes;” pp. 675–682 in TMS2013 Suppl. Proc . Edited by Tms, . John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scales, C. R., Maddrell, E. R., Hobbs, J., Stephen, R., Moricca, S., and Stewart, M. W. A., Building flexibility into the design of a pilot plant for the immobilisation of Pu containing residues and wastes. Brussels, Belgium, 2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scales, C. R., Maddrell, E. R., and Dowson, Mark, “Developing ceramic based technology for the immobilisation of waste in the Sellafield site;” in Proceeding 2009 12th Int. Conf. Environ. Remediat. Radioact . Waste Manag. Liverpool, UK, 2009.Google Scholar
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Conditioning of Plutonium Residues by Hot Isostatic Pressing and Options for packaging and Disposal (pre-conceptual stage) Summary of Assessment Report. 2009.Google Scholar
Vance, E.R., Stewart, M.W.A., and Moricca, S.A., “Progress at ANSTO on SYNROC,” J. Aust. Ceram. Soc., 50 [1] 38–48 (2014).Google Scholar
Harker, Alan B and Flintoff, John F, “Crystalline-Phase Formation in Hot Isostatic Pressing of Nuclear Waste Ceramics with High Zirconia Content,” J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 68 [3] 159–165 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Martin W.A., Moricca, Sam S., Eddowes, Tina, Zhang, Yingjie, Vance, Eric R, Lumpkin, Gregory R, Carter, Melody L, Dowson, Mark, et al. ., “The use of Hot-Isostatic Pressing to process nuclear waste forms;” in Proc. 2009 12th Int. Conf. Environ. Remediat. Radioact . Waste Manag. Liverpool, UK, 2009.Google Scholar
Bellatreccia, F., Della Ventura, G., Caprilli, E., Williams, C.T., and Parodi, G.C., “Crystal-chemistry of zirconolite and calzirtite from Jacupiranga, Sao Paulo (Brazil),” Mineral. Mag., 63 [5] 649–660 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clinard, F.W., Foltyn, E.M., and Ewing, R.C., “Stored energy in natural zirconolite and its synthetic counterpart after alpha recoil self-irradiation damage,” J. Nucl. Mater., 185 202–207 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddrell, E., Thornber, S., and Hyatt, N.C., “The influence of glass composition on crystalline phase stability in glass-ceramic wasteforms,” J. Nucl. Mater., 456 461–466 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trachenko, Koystya, Dove, Martin T, and Salje, Ekhard K H, “Large swelling and percolation in irradiated zircon,” J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 15 L1–L7 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewing, R.C., Weber, W.J., and Clinard, F.W., “Radiation effects in nuclear waste forms for high-level radioactive waste,” Prog. Nucl. Energy, 29 [2] 63–127 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar