Modeling of the Effect of Iron Corrosion Products on Nuclear Waste Glass Performance

Abstract

AbstractExperiments [1], performed in the frame of the JSS-project (joint Japanese [CRIEPI], Swiss [NAGRA], Swedish [SKB] project), demonstrated that the effect of iron corrosion products on the long-term stability of HLW-glass depends on the effective surface area of the corrosion products. The experimental results were described quantitatively by thermodynamic and kinetic modeling with the computer codes GLASSOL and PHREEQE. The model interprets the effect in terms of surface sorption of a monolayer of silica molecules from solution. Silica saturation occurs in solution only, when all surface sites are occupied. The effect of bentonite is also considered. The agreement between calculations and experiment is about as good as in the case of modeling the glass-water reaction only.