Performance Testing of Blast Furnace Slag for Immobilization of Technetium in Grout.

摘要

This paper presents preliminary results of a grout development effort to identify grout formulas that can satisfactorily sequester sup 99 Tc contained in an existing Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant waste. Technetium is of particular concern to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) because of its mobility and biological activity. The mobility of technetium results in large part from the movement of the pertechnate anion (prevalent in low-level radioactive waste (LLW)) through soil and geologic strata with little or no interaction with the surrounding matrix. Ground blast furnace slag has been shown to improve the leach resistance of cement-based waste forms, particularly in regard to technetium. This improved performance has been attributed to fewer and smaller pores in the solidified slags (versus a neat cement paste) and to the reduction of the pertechnate ion to a less soluble form. 9 refs., 2 tabs. (ERA citation 13:048234)