Waste Forms Technology and Performance Final Report (2011) / Chapter Skim
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9 Possible Opportunities in Waste Form Science and Technology
9 Possible Opportunities in Waste Form Science and Technology
Pages 219-240
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Advances in waste form science and technology could have important applications in other DOE programs as well. For example, the development of advanced nuclear fuel cycles by DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE)
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• Basic Research Needs for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, July 31-August 3, 2006 (see the panel #5 report on advanced waste forms)
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9.1 NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN MATERIALS SCIENCE The following examples illustrate how advances in materials science can be used to develop new and improved waste form materials for specific applications, for example, for immobilizing specific waste streams or for disposal in specific geological environments. These materials may benefit from further development or application; some have not been fully explored by the waste management community.
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. As a result, it now appears feasible to use amorphous network engineering to tailor glass compositions with specific atomic sites for incorporating radionuclides (e.g., Martin et al., 2002)
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are probably more common than is generally appreciated because processing technologies are generally limited in their ability to provide phase-pure materials. The multi-phase nature of GCMs makes them useful for immobilizing radioactive waste.
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(A, B) and one missing oxygen, have been examined for possible use for incorporating actinides, either as part of an inert matrix fuel or for direct disposal in a repository.
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Such waste forms could be disposed of in boreholes drilled several kilometers into Earth's crust, where temperatures are sufficiently elevated (because of the geothermal gradient) to prevent waste form amorphization (Figure 9.3)
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. It has been studied extensively as a host for toxic metals, and it also has great potential as an advanced waste form for complex radioactive waste streams because of its complex crystal chemistry, structural flexibility, and good chemical durability.
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with self-assembled organic 3 Mesoporous materials have regularly arranged pores ranging from 2-50 nanometers in diameter. They have high surface areas (up to 1,500 square meters per gram)
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. Investigators at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have extended this technology with the development of self-assembled mercaptan on meso
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A further extension of this technology would be the development of mesoporous materials that are functionalized for the separation of specific radionuclides and suitable for the synthesis of waste forms. Advantages include high radionuclide loadings, high selectivity, and the possibility of a chemically durable final product (Feng et al., 1997b)
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9.1.8 Multi-Scale Computational Simulation of the Properties of Materials One of the most rapidly developing research areas in materials science is the use of computational simulation to determine fundamental physical and chemical properties of materials. In the 1980s, the use of pseudopotentials to capture the behavior of chemically active electrons combined with density functional theory5 allowed the study of systems consisting of hundreds to thousands of atoms.
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Computational simulations can be used to investigate a wide range of compositions or structure types and to focus experimental efforts on the most critical, bench-marking data requirements. Computational simulations can be extended to study surface reactions and corrosion mechanisms (Rosso, 2001)
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As examples, glass waste form compositions might be changed to enhance chemical durability or crystalline waste form composition might be adjusted to enhance thermal annealing of radiation damage (as discussed in Section 9.1.2)
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9.2 NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN WASTE FORM PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES New waste form materials will be of use in the DOE-EM cleanup program only if they can be synthesized and produced at industrial scales. Fortunately, there have been many incremental improvements as well as important innovations in processing technologies that are potentially applicable to production of waste forms.
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Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) , another well-established technology in other industries, is currently being considered for the production of waste forms containing calcine HLW at the Idaho National Laboratory.
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Consequently, DOE-EM will have ample opportunities in the coming decades to incorporate advances in science and technology on waste forms, waste form processing technologies, and waste form–near-field modeling into its baseline approaches to increase program efficiencies, reduce lifecycle costs and risks, and advance scientific understanding and stakeholder confidence. The past 30 years have seen a steady increase in scientific and technological advances, perhaps best exemplified by the successful application of vitrification technologies to immobilize HLW.
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Some waste forms materials (e.g., ceramics) have been studied for almost 30 years but have not yet found widespread implementation for radioactive waste immobilization.
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2010. "Chapter 35: Actinide Waste Forms and Radiation Effects," In The Chemistry of the Actinides and Transactinide Elements 6, L
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1988. "Glass-Ceramics," In Radioactive Waste Forms for the Future, W
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: Low Temperature Sintering Glasses to Form Novel Glass Com posite Material (GCM) Alternative Waste Forms," Ind.
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1983. "A Review of Radiation Effects in Solid Nuclear Waste Forms," Nucl.
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