Solubility, speciation and local environment of chlorine in zirconolite glass-ceramics for the immobilisation of plutonium residues.

ABSTRACT: The immobilisation and disposal of fissile materials from civil and defence nuclear programmes requires compatible, passively safe and proliferation resistant wasteforms. In this study, we demonstrate the application of an albite glass-zirconolite ceramic material for immobilisation of chloride contaminated plutonium oxide residues in the United Kingdom. The chlorine solubility limit in the albite glass phase was determined to be 1.0 ± 0.1 wt%, above the maximum envisaged chorine inventory of 0.5 wt%, attainable at a 20 wt% PuO₂ incorporation rate within the ceramic. Cl K-edge of X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) was exploited to confirm partitioning of Cl to the glass phase, speciated as the chloride anion, with exsolution of crystalline NaCl above the chlorine so

SUBMITTER: Thornber SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9056643 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature