A method is disclosed for stabilizing glass which contains nuclear waste by coating the glass with synthetic monazite. The synthetic monazite has a composition of about 30 to about 35% Ce.sub.2 O.sub.3, about 31 to about 36% La.sub.2 O.sub.3, about 27 to about 35% P.sub.2 O. sub.5, and about 2 to about 5% Nd.sub.2 O.sub.3, where the percentage of La.sub.2 O.sub.3 is about 0.5 to about 1.5 percentage points greater than the percentage of Ce.sub.2 O.sub.3. The coating can be applied by detonation gun or by chemical vapor deposition. Chemical vapor deposition can be accomplished by heating halides of La, Ce, Nd, and P or PO and bringing the vapors by carrier gas to the glass where they are contacted by an oxidizing gas such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, steam, or air.
展开▼
