THE PRODUCT CONSISTENCY TEST (ASTM C1285) FOR WASTE FORM DURABILITY TESTING

摘要

The nation's first, and the world's largest facility to immobilize high-level nuclear waste in durable borosilicate glass began operation in 1994 at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. The product specifications on the glass waste form produced in the SRS vitrification facility, known as the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), required extensive characterization of the glass product before actual production began and for continued characterization during production. To aid in this characterization, a glass durability (leach) test was needed that was easily reproducible, could be performed remotely on highly radioactive samples, and could yield results rapidly. A test known as the Product Consistency Test (PCT) was developed between 1986 and 1994. The PCT was shown to be very reproducible, to yield reliable results rapidly, to distinguish between glasses of different durability and homogeneity, and to easily be performed in shielded cell facilities with radioactive samples. The PCT became an ASTM International standard in 1994. In 1997, the scope was broadened to include hazardous as well as mixed (radioactive and hazardous) glasses. In 2002, the scope was broadened to encompass glass-ceramic waste forms. The PCT, now known as ASTM C1285, is used world wide for testing of glass and glass-ceramic waste forms.