New Silicotitanate Waste Forms; Development and Characterization

The objective of this program is to identify new waste forms and disposal strategies specific to crystalline silicotitanate (CST) secondary waste generated from Cs and Sr ion exchange processes. Waste forms developed in this work will offer an alternative to current disposal plans. The goals of the program are to reduce the costs associated with CST waste disposal, to minimize the risk of contamination to the environment during CST processing, and to provide DOE with technical alternatives for CST disposal. The technical objectives of the proposed work are to fully characterize the phase relationships, structures, and thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities of CST waste forms and to establish a sound technical basis for understanding key waste form properties such as melting temperatures and aqueous durability, based on an in-depth understanding of waste form structures and thermochemistry