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Geopolymers as Candidates for the Immobilisation of Low- and Intermediate-Level Waste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2011

Eric Vance ,
Eric Vance ,
Satoshi Kiyama ,
Zaynab Aly  and
Patrick Yee
Eric Vance
Affiliation:
erv@ansto.gov.au, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Institute of Materials and Engineering Science, New Illawarra road, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia, 61-2-9717-3019
Eric Vance
Affiliation:
erv@ansto.gov.au, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Institute of Materials and Engineering Science, New Illawarra Road, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia
Satoshi Kiyama
Affiliation:
erv@ansto.gov.au, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Institute of Materials and Engineering Science, New Illawarra Road, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia
Zaynab Aly
Affiliation:
zax@ansto.gov.au, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Institute of Materials and Engineering Science, New Illawarra Road, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia
Patrick Yee
Affiliation:
pjy@ansto.gov.au, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Institute of Materials and Engineering Science, New Illawarra Road, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia
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Abstract

Geopolymers should be serious waste form candidates for intermediate level waste (ILW), insofar as they are more durable than Portland cement and can pass the PCT-B test for high-level waste. Thus an alkaline ILW could be considered to be satisfactorily immobilised in a geopolymer formulation. However a simulated Hanford tank waste was found to fail the PCT-B criterion even for a waste loading as low as 5 wt%, very probably due to the formation of a soluble sodium phosphate compound(s). This suggests that it could be worth developing a “mixed” GP waste form in which the amorphous material can immobilise cations and a zeolitic component to immobilise anions. The PCT -B test is demonstrably subject to significant saturation effects, especially for relatively soluble waste forms.

Keywords

waste managementceramicenvironmentally benign
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 985: Symposium NN – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXX , 2006 , 0985-NN10-01
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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References

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