Year: 1988
Type: article
Abstract: Portland cement-base mortars are being considered for immobilizing chloride salt wastes produced by the fuel cycles of Integral Fast Reactors (IFR). The IFR is a sodium-cooled fast reactor with metal alloy fuels. It has a close-coupled fuel cycle in which fission products are separated from the actinides in an electrochemical cell operating at 500/degree/C. This cell has a liquid cadmium anode in which the fuels are dissolved and a liquid salt electrolyte. The salt will be a mixture of either lithium, potassium, and sodium chlorides or lithium, calcium, barium, and sodium chlorides. One method being considered for immobilizing the treated nontransuranic salt waste is to disperse the salt in a portland cement-base mortar that will be sealed in corrosion-resistant containers. For this application, the grout must be sufficiently fluid that it can be pumped into canister-molds where it will solidify into a strong, leach-resistant material. The set times must be longer than a few hours to allow sufficient time for processing, and the mortar must reach a reasonable compressive strength (/approximately/7 MPa) within three days to permit handling. Because fission product heating will be high, about 0.6 W/kg for a mortar containing 10% waste salt, the effects of elevated temperatures during curing and storage on mortar properties must be considered.
Authors: D.F. Fischer, T.R. Johnson
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Handong Global University
OpenAlex ID: W38564170