Fuel Cycle Programs, Quarterly Progress Report: July-September 1981 Page: 2
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2
Logging techniques are being developed to measure the relative
amount of residual oil in a depleted oil reservoir by injecting
gamma-active solution into it. Some laboratory-scale experiments
were completed that showed a 30% variation in gamma signal for oil-
containing and oil-free rock cores.
In work to test the performance of proposed nuclear-waste
repositories using laboratory-analog experiments, rock cores were
obtained from basalt blocks, the engineered barrier material was
tested for flow and leach properties, and laboratory treatments
proposed for "aging" of repository components for use in the ex-
periments.
The flow of groundwater through igneous rocks is of consid-
erable interest in connection with geologic storage of high-level
radioactive waste. Saline water and oil have been found in granite
cores from the Illinois Basin. High chloride concentrations in the
granite imply that communication with an overlying bed of sandstone
by advection and diffusion is limited.
Testing and development of equipment for the destructive
analysis of full-length irradiated fuel rods from the LWBR is in
progress. This work is in support of the LWBR Proof-of-Breeding
Project.
SUMMARY
Development of Interim Waste Forms
Several possible interim waste forms have been studied. These include
the formation of a salt monolith from sodium nitrate-sodium nitrite simulated
waste solution typical of that from a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Another
waste form is prepared by the reaction of calcined sludge (usually found in
neutralized waste tanks) with sodium silicate. Preliminary unsuccessful
experiments were also carried out to evaluate phosphate and borate matrices
as interim waste forms.
Irradiation experiments (using 60Co as the irradiating agent) were
carried out with sodium nitrate and sodium nitrate-sodium nitrite mixtures.
With nitrate but no nitrite present, oxygen was the only gas detected after
irradiation. Whenever nitrite was present in the system, N2 and N20 were
the products.
Silicate/sludge pellets containing up to 75% sludge were prepared by
cold pressing and then curing the samples for 24 h in a 90% relative humidity
atmosphere at 25*C. Those pellets prepared with SS-65 sodium silicate were
exceptionally stable in quiescent water, showing little or no weight loss
after a three-week exposure.
Because FePO4 is reported to be a constituent of the sludge in the
waste tank at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center, its stability in
caustic-sodium nitrate solutions was examined. The reaction upon mixing of
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Steindler, M. J.; Bates, J. K.; Bowers, D. L.; Brock, R. E.; Cannon, T. F.; Castelli, D. L. et al. Fuel Cycle Programs, Quarterly Progress Report: July-September 1981, report, May 1982; Argonne, Illinois. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc283345/m1/12/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.