초록 ▼

This invention relates to radioactive materials which are fixed, stored, entrapped, encapsulated, or otherwise rendered immobile in a glass matrix for extremely long periods of time. Radioactive material such as radioactive wastes are incorporated into a glass matrix by a process of “molecular stuff

This invention relates to radioactive materials which are fixed, stored, entrapped, encapsulated, or otherwise rendered immobile in a glass matrix for extremely long periods of time. Radioactive material such as radioactive wastes are incorporated into a glass matrix by a process of “molecular stuffing”a porous glass either with a radioactive gas which is trapped in the porous glass by dissolution during sintering of the pores of the glass, or with a salt solution containing radioactive material such as CsNO3, Sr(NO3), etc., or with a combination of both salt solution and radioactive gas, followed by drying and sintering of the pores of the glass whereby these radioactive materials upon chemical change to their oxides, excepting of course the noble gases which remain in molecular form, become a part of the integrated glass structure. The resulting glass article may have the radioactive material dispersed essentially homogeneously throughout the glass article, or there may be a layer free of such radioactive waste material over the entire surface of the glass article. In either case such glass articles demonstrate an extremely slow diffusion of the encapsulated radioactive material to the surrounding area.

대표청구항 ▼

A non-porous glass composition containing radioactive materials encapsulated and immobilized in the glass matrix, said composition bein characterized by: (a) containing and at least 75 mol percent SiO2, (b) having a radiation activity above one millicurie per cubic centimeter of said composition, (c

A non-porous glass composition containing radioactive materials encapsulated and immobilized in the glass matrix, said composition bein characterized by: (a) containing and at least 75 mol percent SiO2, (b) having a radiation activity above one millicurie per cubic centimeter of said composition, (c) having high chemical durability to aqueous solution, and (d) containing immobilized oxides of said radioactive material chemically incoporated into the silica structure thereof whereby leakage of said oxides of the radioactive components to the environment at environmental temperature is prevented for extremely long periods of time. A method of preventing the dissemination of radioactive material selected from the group of normally radioactive gases and volatilizable materials which yield radioactive gases which comprises (a) impregnating the pores of a porous glass preform with a dopant to increase the surface are thereof, said preform being characterized by an interconnected porous structure and a SiO2 content of at least 75 mol percent, (b) removing said dopant from the surface of the preform to thus product a skin or outer clad which is substantially free of said dopant and an inner code region containing substantial quantities of dopant therein; (c) drying said preform; (d) impregnating the pores of the dried preform with the abovesaid radioactive material; (e) heating said preform to sintering temperature to collapse the porous structure of the preform thereby encapsulating and immobilizing the radioactive material in the glass matrix.