The precision of product consistency tests conducted with a glass-bonded ceramic waste form

The product consistency test (PCT) that is used for qualification of borosilicate high-level radioactive waste (HLW) glasses for disposal can be used for the same purpose in the qualification of the glass-bonded sodalite ceramic waste form (CWF). The CWF was developed to immobilize radioactive salt wastes generated during the electrometallurgical treatment of spent sodium-bonded nuclear fuels. An interlaboratory study was conducted to measure the precision of PCTs conducted with the CWF for comparison with the precision of PCTs conducted with HLW glasses. The six independent sets of triplicate PCT results generated in the study were used to calculate the intralaboratory and interlaboratory consistency based on the concentrations of Al, B, Na, and Si in the test solutions. The results indicate that PCTs can be conducted as precisely with the CWF as with HLW glasses. For example, the values of the reproducibility standard deviation for Al, B, Na, and Si were 1.36, 0.347, 3.40, and 2.97 mg/l for PCT with CWF. These values are within the range of values measured for borosilicate glasses, including reference HLW glasses.