Enhancing cerium and plutonium solubility by reduction in borosilicate glass

High-level radioactive wastes produced by spent fuel reprocessing containing fission and activation products as well as actinides are incorporated in a borosilicate glass. To ensure optimum radionuclide containment, the resulting glass must be as homogeneous as possible. Microscopic heterogeneity can arise from various processes including the excess loading of an element above its solubility limit. The current actinide loading limit is 0.4 wt%. Work is in progress to assess the actinide solubility in these glasses, especially for plutonium. Initially the actinides were simulated by lanthanides and hafnium. The results show that trivalent elements (La, Gd) exhibit greater solubility than tetravalent elements (Pu, Hf). Cerium is an interesting element because its oxidation state varies from IV to III depending on the process conditions, such as the temperature and redox potential of the melt. In order to quantify the solubility increase, cerium-doped glass samples were melted under reducing conditions by adding a reducing agent. The solubility observed at 1473 K increased significantly from 0.95 to 13.00 wt%. Several reducing compounds have been tested. This paper deals with this study and the application to reduce Pu(IV) to Pu(III). The reduction state was characterized by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) for plutonium and by chemical analysis for cerium. The material homogeneity was verified by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Preliminary findings concerning the reduction of Pu-doped glasses fabricated in hot cells are also discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.