Leaching of glass components and surrogate nuclides from glassy waste forms for radioactive incineration ash

Abstract

The applicability of vitrification technology to treat radioactive incineration ash was studied, especially in terms of leaching characteristics, by using several glassy waste forms which are fabricated with simulated incineration ash and base-glass at different mixing ratios. The ISO leaching test has been conducted for 820 days. Two semi-empirical models were applied to find out the dominant leaching mechanism of glass elements. Dissolution associated with diffusion was the dominant leaching mechanism and the elemental leaching characteristic depended upon its solubility in water. A theoretical leaching prediction model was applied to observe the long-term leaching behavior of major glass elements and surrogate nuclides. Diffusion coefficients and dissolution rate constants, the main parameters in the long-term prediction model, of glass elements and surrogates were obtained using short- and long-term experimental data. The model was found to be useful in predicting the long-term behavior of such elements in order to assess the stability of glassy waste forms.