CORALUS: An Integrated In Situ Corrosion Test on α-Active HLW Glass

ABSTRACTIntegrated in situ corrosion tests with α-doped SON68 glass samples have been and are still being performed in the HADES underground laboratory in Mol, Belgium. Two test tubes have been dismantled, and the glass and clay samples have been analysed (mass loss, SEM, EDS, SIMS,…). The results on glass corrosion largely respond to the expectations and agree very well with results from surface laboratory tests and modelling predictions. The glass alteration is about two orders of magnitude higher at 90 °C than at 30 °C. The addition of powdered glass frit to a Ca-bentonite backfill reduces the glass alteration by two orders of magnitude in comparison with another backfill, dried Boom Clay. The α-doped glass samples were shown to have slightly thicker alteration layers. The thickness seemed to increase with increasing αβγ-activity. Because of the lack of sufficient data on mass loss, we cannot conclude that also the degree of alteration is higher for these samples. Under the thermal gradient in the test tubes, the reaction of Cabentonite with the glass samples and the powdered glass frit dispersed within the bentonite results in the neo-formation of non-swelling 7 Å minerals.