Development of test acceptance standards for qualification of the glass-bonded zeolite waste form. Interim annual report, October 1995--September 1996

Glass-bonded zeolite is being developed at Argonne National Laboratory in the Electrometallurgical Treatment Program as a potential ceramic waste form for the disposition of radionuclides associated with the US Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) spent nuclear fuel conditioning activities. The utility of standard durability tests [e.g. Materials Characterization Center Test No. 1 (MCC-1), Product Consistency Test (PCT), and Vapor Hydration Test (VHT)] are being evaluated as an initial step in developing test methods that can be used in the process of qualifying this material for acceptance into the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System. A broad range of potential repository conditions are being evaluated to determine the bounding parameters appropriate for the corrosion testing of the ceramic waste form, and its behavior under accelerated testing conditions. In this report we provide specific characterization information and discuss how the durability test results are affected by changes in pH, leachant composition, and sample surface area to leachant volume ratios. We investigate the release mechanisms and other physical and chemical parameters that are important for establishing acceptance parameters, including the development of appropriate test methodologies required to measure product consistency.