Fuel Cycle Programs, Quarterly Progress Report: January-March 1981

A program continues for the development of an interim waste form that can be transported from facilities where waste is generated to terminal waste processing. Measurements of rates of leaching from simulated nuclear waste forms ar continuing. The data suggest that leaching from SRL glasses is inhibited by the formation of a Si/Ca/Fe/Al-rich surface layer. Impact tests of solid alternative waste forms (glass and ceramic) are being performed to assess source terms of airborne release (from particle size distributions) and to assess the increases in source terms of leach rates (from increases in surface area). Logging techniques are being developed to measure the relative amount of residual oil in a depleted oil reservoir. A simple technique for the elution of pore fluid (groundwater) from igneous rocks is described, using a special coreholder, as is the elution of brine (in the same apparatus) from a core of Precambrian granite. Testing and development of equipment for the destructive analysis of full-length irradiated fuel rods from the LWBR is in progress.