Phase Formation in Phosphate and Borophosphate Glasses Containing Iron, Chromium, Nickel, and Sulfur

Abstract

We have prepared multicomponent phosphate and borophosphate glass systems containing considerable concentrations of high-level waste components critical to the vitrification process, such as iron, chromium, nickel, and sulfur, which imitate the composition of the high-level waste in storage tanks. We have studied the glass preparation temperature, viscosity, phase formation, thermal stability, and hydrolytic stability of the materials. The lowest rate of cesium leaching from quenched boron-free aluminophosphate glasses was on the order of 10^–5 g/(cm² day).