TIME-TEMPERATURE-TRANSFORMATION STUDY OF SIMULATED HANFORD TANK WASTE (AZ-101) AND OPTIMIZATION OF GLASS FORMULATION FOR PROCESSING SUCH WASTE

摘要

This paper presents the current results of a study for the optimization of the quality of the wasteform to be produced by vitrification of Hanford High Level Waste (HLW). A simulant of the content of Hanford Tank AZ-101 has been used for the experiments. A first phase of the research focused on the wasteform composition and showed that a high quality and chemical-resistant wasteform can be formed incorporating 60 weight % of dried waste into a borosilicate glass enriched with zinc oxide and boric acid and provided some indication about the heat treatment of the melt. A second phase of the study, still in progress, refines these findings. A detailed crystallinity survey of the waste form after various heat treatments has been performed, culminating in the development of a time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram. The results of the first phase of research and preliminary results from the second phase are described.