| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T21: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Progressive Solutions to Improve Corrosion Resistance for Nuclear Waste Storage
|
| Presentation Title |
A Geopolymer for Hanford Secondary Waste |
| Author(s) |
Sepideh Akhbarifar, Weiliang Gong, Werner Lutze, Ian L Pegg |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Sepideh Akhbarifar |
| Abstract Scope |
Preceding this work, a geopolymer was developed at CUA to solidify ‘Hanford Secondary Waste’, which contains low levels of hazardous metals, 99Tc, and 129I. All waste elements were fixated at least as well as in other candidate waste forms. Scale-up testing revealed that using only two pozzolans (slag and metakaolin) to make the geopolymer limited desirable ranges of rheological properties and set times for large-scale production. Including a third pozzolan (fly ash) provided sufficient flexibility. We report on a quantitative evaluation of the rheological properties and set times of geopolymers made with the three pozzolans. The rheological set time will be compared with that of the Vicat tests. The composition dependence of compressive strength will be discussed. Expecting that a fast-growing fraction of electricity will be produced from renewable sources and the continuing use of nuclear power, the already very low CO2 footprint of geopolymers will approach zero. |