This report has been reproduced directly from the best available copy. Approximately 18 of the 50 metric tons of plutonium identified for disposition contain significant quantities of impurities. A ceramic waste form is the chosen option for immobilization of the excess plutonium. For this study, only volatile species are investigated. The impurities are added individually.
Cerium is used as the surrogate for plutonium.
Three compositions, including the baseline composition, were used to verify the ability of the ceramic wasteform to accommodate impurities. The criteria for evaluation of the effect of the impurities were the apparent porosity and phase assemblage of sintered pellets. Introduction Immobilization of radioactive waste in a polycrystalline ceramic wasteform was demonstrated in the early 1970's by McCarthy and Davidson 1 . Evaluation of the immobilization of a surrogate waste from commercial nuclear power generation resulted in the formation of more than twenty phases. Jantzen et al. 2 described the concept of tailoring the composition of the non-waste additives to produce specific crystalline phases.