Waste-Form-Degradation Modeling
A long-standing problem in the analysis of nuclear waste glass degradation (or corrosion) rates is the short-term time scales associated with laboratory studies. One approach to this problem has been to study archaeological glasses, particularly where the environment within which they existed can be well constrained over time. In this study, concluded in 2014, we made use of a micro-continuum modeling approach to capture the spatial distribution and identity of reaction products developing over time as a result of the archaeological glass corrosion, while also matching the time scales of alteration where possible. Importantly for future studies, our model captured the approximate mineralogical zoning, as well as the identity of the newly formed secondary phase smectite.
Jens Birkholzer
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