Natural Clay Minerals as a Starting Material for Matrices for the Immobilization of Radioactive Waste from Pyrochemical Processing of SNF

Anna V. Matveenko, Andrey P. Varlakov, Alexander A. Zherebtsov, Alexander V. Germanov, Ivan V. Mikheev, Stepan N. Kalmykov and Vladimir G. Petrov
Additional contact information
Anna V. Matveenko: Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Andrey P. Varlakov: JSC “A.A. Bochvar High-Technology Scientific Research Institute for Inorganic Materials (VNIINM)”, 123098 Moscow, Russia
Alexander A. Zherebtsov: JSC “Proryv”, 107140 Moscow, Russia
Alexander V. Germanov: JSC “A.A. Bochvar High-Technology Scientific Research Institute for Inorganic Materials (VNIINM)”, 123098 Moscow, Russia
Ivan V. Mikheev: Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Stepan N. Kalmykov: Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Vladimir G. Petrov: Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Pyrochemistry is a promising technology that can provide benefits for the safe reprocessing of relatively fresh spent nuclear fuel with a short storage time (3–5 years). The radioactive waste emanating from this process is an electrolyte (LiCl–KCl) mixture with fission products included. Such wastes are rarely immobilized through common matrices such as cement and glass. In this study, samples of ceramic materials, based on natural bentonite clay, were studied as matrices for radioactive waste in the form of LiCl–KCl eutectic. The phase composition of the samples, and their mechanical, hydrolytic, and radiation resistance were characterized. The possibility of using bentonite clay as a material for immobilizing high-level waste arising from pyrochemical processing of spent nuclear fuel is further discussed in this paper.

Keywords: pyrochemical process; radioactive waste; immobilization; bentonite; ceramic matrices; spent nuclear fuel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/10780/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/10780/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:19:p:10780-:d:645282

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().