Glass crystalline materials as advanced nuclear wasteforms

Abstract

Glass crystalline materials (GCM) are of increasing interest as advanced nuclear wasteforms combining the advantages of vitreous and crystalline matrices. The GCM are versatile wasteforms envisaged for a wider use to immobilise various types of both radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes. They can be produced either via low temperature sintering using precursors composed of glass frit, oxides, and crystalline phases or through conventional melting aiming to produce first a parent glass, which is then crystallised by a controlled thermal schedule to obtain target crystalline phases within the GCM. Utilization of GCM is highlighted as a perspective wasteform for immobilization of partitioned radionuclide streams.