Round-robin testing of a reference glass for low-activity waste forms

A round robin test program was conducted with a glass that was developed for use as a standard test material for acceptance testing of low-activity waste glasses made with Hanford tank wastes. The glass is referred to as the low-activity test reference material (LRM). The program was conducted to measure the interlaboratory reproducibility of composition analysis and durability test results. Participants were allowed to select the methods used to analyze the glass composition. The durability tests closely followed the Product Consistency Test (PCT) Method A, except that tests were conducted at both 40 and 90 C and that parallel tests with a reference glass were not required. Samples of LRM glass that had been crushed, sieved, and washed to remove fines were provided to participants for tests and analyses. The reproducibility of both the composition and PCT results compare favorably with the results of interlaboratory studies conducted with other glasses. From the perspective of reproducibility of analysis results, this glass is acceptable for use as a composition standard for nonradioactive components of low-activity waste forms present at >0.1 elemental mass % and as a test standard for PCTS at 40 and 90 C. For PCT with LRM glass, the expected test results at the 95% confidence level are as follows: (1) at 40 C: pH = 9.86 {+-} 0.96; [B] = 2.30 {+-} 1.25 mg/L; [Na] = 19.7 {+-} 7.3 mg/L; [Si] = 13.7 {+-} 4.2 mg/L; and (2) at 90 C: pH = 10.92 {+-} 0.43; [B] = 26.7 {+-} 7.2 mg/L; [Na] = 160 {+-} 13 mg/L; [Si] = 82.0 {+-} 12.7 mg/L. These ranges can be used to evaluate the accuracy of PCTS conducted at other laboratories