• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.1206-1212
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• 2022

Cold-crucible induction melting (CCIM) technology has been intensively studied as an advanced vitrification process for the immobilization of highly radioactive waste. This technology uses high-frequency induction to melt a glass matrix and waste, while the outer surface of the crucible is water-cooled, resulting in the formation of a frozen glass layer (skull). In this study, for the fabrication of borosilicate glass waste form, CCIM operation test with 60 kg of glass per batch was conducted using surrogate wastes composed of Cs, Sr, and Nd as a representative of highly radioactive nuclides generated during spent nuclear fuel management. A 60 kg-scale glass waste form was successfully fabricated through melting and draining processes using a CCIM system, and its physicochemical properties were analyzed. In particular, to enhance the controllability and reliability of the draining process, an air-cooling drain control method that can control draining through air-cooling near drain holes was developed, and its validity for draining control was verified. The method can offer controllability on various draining processes, such as molten salt or molten metal draining processes, and can be applied to a process requiring high throughput draining.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.255-269
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• 2016

The waste glass sludge is a waste produced in the glass industry. It is in a dust form and disposed with water. In the disposal process, various cohesive agents are incorporated in order to precipitate the glass particles efficiently. In this paper, we investigate the pozzolanic reaction of the waste glass sludge incorporating precipitation additives experimentally. The consumption of calcium hydroxide, the setting time and the compressive strength and the pore structure were tested for two different types of the waste glass sludge depending on whether precipitation additives were used. It was found that the waste glass sludge incorporating the precipitation additives had a higher pozzolanic potential than the reference waste glass sludge without precipitation additives.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.92-102
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• 2015

Current plans for legacy nuclear wastes stored in underground tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Washington are that they will be separated into high-level waste and low-activity waste fractions that will be vitrified separately. Formulating optimized glass compositions that maximize the waste loading in glass is critical for successful and economical treatment and immobilization of these nuclear wastes. Glass property-composition models have been developed and applied to formulate glass compositions for various objectives for the past several decades. Property models with associated uncertainties combined with composition and property constraints have been used to develop preliminary glass formulation algorithms designed for vitrification process control and waste-form qualification at the planned waste vitrification plant. This paper provides an overview of the current status of glass property-composition models, constraints applicable to Hanford waste vitrification, and glass formulation approaches that have been developed for vitrification of hazardous and highly radioactive wastes stored at the Hanford Site.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.175-180
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• 2004

In order to vitrify the combustible dry active waste (DAW) generated from Korean Nuclear Power Plants, a glass formulation development based on waste composition was performed. A borosilicate glass, DG-2, was formulated to vitrify the DAW in an induction cold crucible melter (CCM). The processability, product performance, and volume reduction effect of the candidate glass were evaluated using a computer code and were measured experimentally in the laboratory and CCM. The glass viscosity and electrical conductivity as the process parameters were in the desired ranges. Start-up and maintaining glass melt of the candidate glass were favorable in the CCM. The product of the glass product such as chemical durability, phase stability, and density was satisfactory. The vitrification process using the candidate glass was also evaluated assuming that it was operated as economically as possible.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.301-302
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• 2018

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.53-71
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• 2018

Waste glass disposal causes environmental problems in the cities. To find a suitable green environmental solution for this problem low cost adsorbent in this study was prepared from waste glass. An effective new green adsorbent was synthesized by hydrothermal treatment of waste glass (WG), followed by acidic activation of its surface by HCl (WGP). The prepared adsorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and BET surface measurement. The developed adsorbent was used for the removal of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn) from well water. Batch experiments were conducted to test the ability of the prepared adsorbent for the removal of Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn from well water. The experiments of the heavy metals adsorption by adsorbent (WGP) were performed at different metal ion concentrations, solution pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms and kinetic models were used to verify the adsorption performance. The results indicated high removal efficiencies (99-100%) for all the studied heavy metals at pH 7 at constant contact time of 2 h. The data obtained from adsorption isotherms of metal ions at different time fitted well to linear form of the Langmuir sorption equation, and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Application of the resulted conditions on well water demonstrated that the modified waste glass adsorbent successfully adsorbed heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn) from well water.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.339-352
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• 2021

Legacy waste from the decommissioned A-1 nuclear power plant in the Slovak Republic is scheduled for immobilisation within a tailored alkali borosilicate glass formulation, as part of ongoing site cleanup. The aqueous durability and characterisation of a simulant glass wasteform for Chrompik III legacy waste, was investigated, including dissolution experiments up to 112 days (90℃, ASTM Type 1 water). The wasteform was an amorphous, light green glassy product, with no observed phase separation or crystalline inclusions. Aqueous leach testing revealed a suitably durable product over the timescale investigated, comparing positively to other simulant nuclear waste glasses and vitreous products tested under similar conditions. Iron and titanium rich precipitates were observed to form at the surface of monolithic samples during leaching, with the formation of an alkali deficient alteration layer behind these at later ages. Overall this glass appears to perform well, and in line with expectations for this chemistry, although longer-term testing would be required to predict overall durability. This work will contribute to developing confidence in the disposability of vitrified Chrompik legacy wastes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.263-264
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• 2017

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2013

The rare earth oxide wastes consisting of major 8 nuclides Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd, are generated during the salt waste treatment of PyroGreen process. The final form of the rare earth is generated as the oxide state. In this study, six candidate glasses were developed to evaluate the feasibility for vitrifying the rare earth oxide wastes within the borosilicate glass system. The solubilities of the mixture of the rare earth oxide waste showed less than 25wt% at $1,200^{\circ}C$, less than 30wt% at $1,300^{\circ}C$, respectively. It means that solubility is increased with the temperature increment. The liquidus temperature of the homogeneous glass with 20wt% waste loading was determined as less than $950^{\circ}C$. In more than solubility of rare earth oxides glass, formation of rare earth-oxide-silicate crystal in glass-ceramic occurred as the secondary phase. As their viscosity at melting temperature $1,200{\sim}1,300^{\circ}C$ was less than 100 poise, electrical conductivity was higher than 1 S/cm, 20~25wt% waste loading glasses with good surface homogeneity are judged to have good operability in cold crucible induction melter. Other physicochemical properties of the developed glasses are going to be experimented in the future.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.211-221
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• 2016

Waste salt generated from a pyro-processing for the recovery of uranium and transuranic elements has high volatility at vitrification temperature and low compatibility in conventional waste glasses. For this reason, KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) suggested a new method to de-chlorinate waste salt by using an inorganic composite named SAP ($SiO_2-Al_2O_3-P_2O_5$). In this study, the de-chlorination behavior of waste salt and the microstructure of consolidated form were examined by adding $B_2O_3$ and $Fe_2O_3$ to the original SAP composition. De-chlorination behavior of metal chloride waste was slightly changed with given compositions, compared with that of original SAP. In the consolidated forms, the phase separation between Si-rich phase and P-rich phase decreases with the amount of $Al_2O_3$ or $B_2O_3$ as a connecting agent between Si and P-rich phase. The results of PCT (Product Consistency Test) indicated that the leach-resistance of consolidated forms out of reference composition was lowered, even though the leach-resistance was higher than that of EA (Environmental Assessment) glass. From these results, it could be inferred that the change in the content of Al or B in U-SAP affected the microstructure and leach-resistance of consolidated form. Further studies related with correlation between composition and characteristics of wasteform are required for a better understanding.