Speaker
Prof.
John McCloy
(Washington State University)
Description
Iodine-129, released in the off-gas stream during nuclear fuel reprocessing, is problematic due to its long half-life, high mobility in the earth’s environment, incorporation into the human thyroid, and difficulty in immobilizing it using traditional vitrification methods. Iodosodalite (Na8Al6Si6O24I2) has been considered as to immobilize iodine-129 due to feasibility of synthesis at low temperature (<200°C) and compatibility with glass matrices for encapsulation of sodalite crystallites. Our study focused on synthesis and characterization of glass-bonded sodalite waste forms, in which we sought to study the effects of process variables on the resulting crystallization and iodine retained. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, electron microscopy, neutron activation analysis, and thermal analysis were performed to characterize the physical and chemical properties of the specimens. Chemical durability tests were also performed on synthesized pellets.
Primary author
Prof.
John McCloy
(Washington State University)
Co-authors
Mr
Brian Riley
(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Mr
Junghune Nam
(Washington State University)
Mr
Saehwa Chong
(Washington State University)