Abstract
Liquid high-level nuclear waste will be immobilized at the Savannah River Site (SRS) by vitrification in borosilicate glass in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). In this facility, control of the oxidation/reduction (redox) equilibrium in the glass melter is critical for processing of the nuclear waste. Therefore, the development of a rapid and reliable analytical method for the determination of the redox equilibrium is of considerable interest. Redox has been determined by measuring the ratio of ferrous to ferric ions in the glass melt. Two analytical techniques for glass redox measurement have been investigated for the DWPF: Mossbauer Spectroscopy which may be subject to interferences from the radiation in actual waste, and a rapid and simple chemical dissolution/spectrophotometric technique. Comparisons of these techniques have been made at several laboratories including Clemson University. In the study attached, the determination of the redox ratio by Ion Chromatography (IC) was investigated as a potential new technology. Clemson University performed IC analyses on the same glasses as previously examined by wet chemical and Mossbauer techniques. Results from all three techniques were highly correlated and IC was reported to be a promising new technology for redox measurement. 19 refs., 19 figs., 5 tabs.
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