Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 February 2017
Glass-ceramics were developed initially for the immobilization of miscellaneousPu-residues at the UK’s Sellafield site from which it was uneconomicto recover Pu for reuse. Renewed interest in the immobilization of a portion ofthe UK PuO2 stockpile has led to glass-ceramics being evaluated forbulk Pu immobilization. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in the UKhave proposed hot isostatic pressing (HIP) as a potential consolidationtechnique for the processing of these wasteforms. In this study, zirconolitebased glass-ceramics were investigated to determine an optimum formulation. Theyield of zirconolite is shown to vary with glass composition and glass fraction,such that a higher Al content favours zirconolite formation. The samplepreparation process is discussed to highlight the importance of a hightemperature heat-treatment during sample preparation to achieve high qualityHIPed wasteforms.