Technetium Waste Form Development - Progress Report

Analytical electron microscopy using SEM and TEM has been used to analyze a ~5 g. ingot with composition 71.3 wt% 316SS-5.3 wt% Zr-13.2 wt% Mo-4.0 wt% Rh-6.2 wt% Re prepared at the Idaho National Laboratory. Four phase fields have been identified two of which are lamellar eutectics, with a fifth possibly present. A Zr rich phase was found distributed as fine precipitate, ~10µm in diameter, often coating large cavities. A Mo-Fe-Re-Cr lamellar eutectic phase field appears as blocky regions ~30µm in diameter, surrounded by a Fe-Mo-Cr lamellar eutectic phase field, and that in turn is surrounded by a Zr-Fe-Rh-Mo-Ni phase field. The eutectic phase separation reactions are different. The Mo-Fe-Re-Cr lamellar eutectic appears a result of austenitic steel forming at lower volume fraction within an Mo-Fe-Re intermetallic phase, whereas the Fe-Mo-Cr lamellar eutectic may be a result of the same intermetallic phase forming within a ferritic steel phase. Cavitation may have arisen either as a result of bubbles, or from loss of equiaxed particles during specimen preparation.