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Characterization of Radioactive Slags (NUREG-1703)On this page:Download complete document The following links on this page are to documents in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). See our Plugins, Viewers, and Other Tools page for more information. For successful viewing of PDF documents on our site please be sure to use the latest version of Adobe. Publication InformationManuscript Completed: February 2004 Prepared by 1 Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Division of Systems Analysis and Regulatory Effectiveness AbstractSlag samples from three humid region sites located in the Eastern United States were studied in detail. Since this investigation is generic in nature, the precise locations of the sites are not identified and are referred to as Sites A, B, and C. Site A's slag was formed from a reprocessed Nb-Ta slag that was ground, leached and deposited in settling ponds which were allowed to evaporate. The resulting material was a "rock like," porous, altered material that resembled a sandstone. Site B was the most intensively studied site and it provided valuable information on the physical and chemical form of the original Nb and Ta slag, as well as the Sn slag that was used as the "ore" material. Site C's slag, although not studied in as much detail as the Site B slag, is physically similar to the Site B slag and both sites had (i) glassy slag and (ii) dense dark slags that ranged from fine grained to very coarsely crystalline. Detailed microanalytical data from Sites B and C provide information regarding the degradation of the radionuclide-bearing phases. Uranium and thorium are present in glass, perovskite, calzirtite, zirconolite, and pyrochlore. Cerium and thorium are present in hibonite. These phases are similar to phases in the proposed high-level radioactive waste form SYNROC. Numerous studies provide experimentally determined solubility and leach rates for these phases. These data provide insight into and bounding values for estimates of slag leach rates. Data reduction and a detailed petrological study provide the necessary information for guidance to the NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards for license termination at future decommissioning sites. |
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