Cementitious Materials for Nuclear Waste Immobilization

Rehab O. Abdel Rahman is Nuclear Engineering Lecturer, at the Atomic Energy Authority of Egypt, Cairo, Egypt. He has been working in the field of nuclear engineering for almost 20 years, and has published in several international journals. His areas of research include radioactive waste management: performance assessment, material selection, cementitious material.Ravil Z. Rakhimov and Nailia R. Rakhimova are Professor and Assistant Professor at Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering, Russian Federation.  Ravil has almost forty years’ experience of teaching in the fields of materials science and cementitious materials. He is the author of more than 35 patents, 29 monographs and textbooks and nearly 600 papers in Russian. Current research interests include building material science and cementitious materials. Nailia has fifteen years’ experience in materials science, and mineral binders. She holds 6 patents, has written one monograph and more than100 papers, mostly in Russian.Michael Ojovan is Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield, Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London, and Nuclear Engineer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Austria. Prior to this he spent he 20 years at The Moscow Scientific and Industrial Association "Radon", the leading radioactive waste research institution of Russian Federation. He is a Fellow of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and a Technical Expert of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He has published over 290 peer reviewed scientific papers, 6 books on nuclear materials, 6 book chapters, 14 IAEA documents and has 42 patents. He has also been awarded research grants totalling over £7M.

• About the Authors xiPreface xiii1 Introduction 11.1 Background of Nuclear Waste Problem 11.2 Nuclear Industry Facilities 21.2.1 NFC Facilities 21.2.2 Radioisotope Production and Application 81.3 Nuclear Waste Sources and Classification 101.4 Nuclear Waste Management 131.4.1 Development of Policy Principles, Strategy and Legal Framework 141.4.2 Technical Options for a Waste Management System 161.4.3 Technical Factors that Affect Technology Selection 221.5 Wasteform Materials 23References 252 Cements: Portland Cement 272.1 Cements 272.2 Portland Cement: Manufacture, Mineral Composition, Properties 282.3 Phase and Mineral Composition of Ordinary Portland Cement 302.4 Properties of Portland Cement 312.5 Hydration of Portland Cement 322.5.1 Hydration and Hydraulic Activity of Clinker Phases and Portland Cement 322.5.2 Process Chemistry, Products and Hydration Stages 352.5.3 Microstructure, Phases and Properties of Fresh and Hardened Cement Paste 402.6 Interaction of Portland Cements with Water and Soil 442.6.1 Ground Waters and Their Interaction with Cement Hydration Products 442.6.2 Soil and Its Interaction with Cement Hydration Products 48References 513 Portland Cements with Mineral and Chemical Admixtures 533.1 Chemical Admixtures to Control the Structure and Properties of Portland Cements 533.1.1 Accelerators 553.1.2 Retarders 563.1.3 Plasticizers, Super-Plasticizers and Hyperplasticizers 573.2 Mineral Admixtures in the Control of the Composition, Structure and Properties of Cements 613.2.1 Classification of Mineral Admixtures for Cements 623.2.2 Portland Cements with Mineral Admixtures from Natural Rocks and Minerals 663.2.3 Portland Cements with Mineral Admixtures from Wastes of Various Industries 673.2.4 Portland Cements with Synthetic Mineral Admixtures 693.2.5 Portland Cements with Hybrid Mineral and Organic-Mineral Admixtures 70References 744 Alternative Binders 794.1 Calcium Aluminate Cements 804.1.1 Chemical and Mineralogical Composition of CACs 804.1.2 Hardening of CACs 814.1.3 Properties of CACs 824.2 Calcium Sulphoaluminate Cements 834.2.1 Chemical and Mineralogical Composition of CSACs 844.2.2 Hardening of CSACs 844.2.3 Properties of CSACs 864.3 Phosphate Cements 874.3.1 Properties of Phosphate Cements 894.3.2 Magnesium Phosphate Cements 904.3.3 Calcium Phosphate Cements 904.4 Alkali-Activated Cements 92References 995 Cement Properties, Characterization and Testing 1055.1 Water/Cement Ratio, Water Requirement, Workability and Water Retention 1055.2 Setting Time 1095.3 Specific Surface Area and Particle Size Distribution 1115.4 Heat Evolution 1135.5 Strength 1145.6 Freeze–Thaw Resistance 1195.7 Microstructure and Analysis 121References 1246 Radioactive Waste Cementation 1276.1 Radioactive Waste Streams for Cementation 1276.2 Liquid Waste 1306.2.1 Organic Liquid Waste for Cementation 1306.2.2 Aqueous Waste for Cementation 1326.3 Bulk Solid Radioactive Wastes 1386.3.1 Bulk Metallic Wastes 1386.3.2 Bulk Concrete Wastes 1406.3.3 Bulk Graphite 1426.3.4 Bulk Hazardous Wastes 1436.4 Fragmented (Dispersed) Solid Wastes 1436.4.1 Compactable, Combustible Wastes 1446.4.2 Non-compactable, Non-combustible Wastes 1456.5 Additives for Radioactive Waste Cementation 1476.5.1 Lime 1486.5.2 Blast Furnace Slag 1496.5.3 Clay Minerals 1496.6 Cement-Based Composite Materials 1526.7 Cement-Based Wasteform Optimization 153References 1547 Waste Cementation Technology 1597.1 Methods of Liquid Waste Cementation 1597.1.1 Regular Mixer Technology 1617.1.2 Disposable Stirrer Technology 1637.1.3 Slant Mixer Technology 1677.1.4 High Energy and High Shear Mixer Technology 1687.1.5 In-line Mixing Technology 1687.2 Methods for Cementation of Fragmented (Dispersed) Solid Waste 1687.3 Methods for Cementation of Bulk Solid Waste 1737.4 Quality Control of Technological Processes and Materials Obtained 174References 1758 Cementitious Wasteform Durability 1778.1 Wasteform Durability Requirements 1778.2 Role of Material Performance 1818.3 Expected Performance of Cements 1828.4 Wasteform Leaching Parameters 1858.5 Laboratory Tests 1868.6 Long-Term Field Tests 1888.6.1 Mound Type Repository Field Tests 1898.6.2 Vault Repository Field Tests 1948.7 Effect of Radiation 1958.8 Biological Effects 1968.9 Role of Filling Materials 197References 1989 Performance Assessment 2019.1 Historical Disposal Practice 2029.2 Disposal Facility Design 2049.2.1 Shallow Land Disposal Options 2069.2.2 Underground Disposal Option 2089.3 Modelling Approaches 2109.4 Performance Assessment 2129.5 Safety Case 216References 21710 Future Trends and Concluding Remarks 22110.1 Role of Cementitious Materials 22110.2 Novel Cementitious Materials 22210.3 Concluding Remarks 224References 225Index 227