Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of various components of the SKBF/KBS nuclear waste storage system on the leaching of the vitreous waste form. Two cohfigurations of nuclear waste glasses, canisters, overpacks, and backfill mate-7ial were inserted into 5.6 cm x 3 m deep boreholes located at the 350 m level in the STRIPA mine. Some were maintained at 90°C. The others were allowed to equilibrate at the ambient temperature of the mine, approximately 8°C. Two borosilicate nuclear waste glass compositions (termed ABS 39 and ABS 41) compatible with the French AVM process containing 9 percent by weight of simulated fission products were compared. The two compositions ( Table 1) bracket the range of Si02/Na2O/B203 ratios likely to be selected for commercial vitrification operations at La Hague.