Properties and vibrational spectra of magnesium phosphate glasses for nuclear waste immobilization

The leaching behavior and structure of magnesium phosphate glasses containing 45–55 mol% MgO incorporated with simulated high level nuclear wastes (HLW) were studied. The leach rate of the waste glasses decrease with increasing of the simulated HLW content. The gross leach rate of the glass waste form containing 50 mol% MgO and 45 mass% simulated HLW is of the order of 10−6 g/cm2 day at 90 °C, which is small enough as compared with the corresponding release from a currently used borosilicate glass waste form. The isolated ions such as dimeric (P2O7)4− and monomeric (PO4)3− ions increase upon as increasing the incorporating amount of the simulated HLW. The changes in properties can be attributed to the structure changes owing to the incorporation of the simulated HLW.