Helium diffusion in curium-doped borosilicate waste glass

Abstract The isothermal release of helium from 244Cm-doped borosilicate glass has been studied as a function of time at different annealing temperatures. Helium measurements were performed using a micro gas chromatograph coupled to a furnace installed in a hot cell at ATALANTE nuclear research facility. Plane-parallel glass samples were prepared from glass discs that had been stored for 5.1 years at room temperature, accumulating around 1019 alpha decays per gram of glass, a level that will be reached in current nuclear glass packages several thousand years after disposal. The experimental helium release data were simulated using a 3D numerical model to determine the helium diffusion coefficients. The extracted diffusion coefficients follow the Arrhenius law with an activation energy of 0.61 ± 0.03 eV and a pre-exponential factor of (5.7 ± 1.6) × 10−3 cm2 s−1. The results were compared with literature data on damaged and undamaged glasses to assess the effect of glass damage on helium release. The helium release results are consistent with a thermal diffusion mechanism involving only one population of helium atoms. The helium diffusion coefficients were unaffected by the glass alpha damage.