THE EFFECT OF MIXED MODIFIERS ON NUCLEAR WASTE GLASS PROCESSING, LEACHING, AND RAMAN-SPECTRA

Borosilicate glasses with different waste loadings were prepared by am bient melting, quenching, and annealing. Some melt compositions partia lly crystallize to durable phases of zircon and forsterite. The coexis ting liquid quenches to glass and endures the leach tests. The waste l oading dependent leach rate trends of these glasses are reminiscent of the mixed alkali effect. Raman spectra suggest initial increase in du rability with increases in the depolymerization of silicate species. F luorine and hydroxyl ions also contribute to depolymerization. Tetrabo rate and metaborate rings are identified in the Raman spectra. The dur ability is enhanced when tetraborate bands are more intense than the m etaborate bands.