Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Volatile Technetium Oxides: Implications For Nuclear Waste Vitrification, Bradley Covington Childs

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

From 1943 to 1987, the Hanford site was the primary location for the production of Pu for military applications in the United States. Decades of Pu production have been accompanied by generation of large amounts of liquid and solid radioactive waste. One of radioelements present in the Hanford wastes is Tc, principally the isotope 99Tc (1500 kg). In the waste, it is primarily present in the heptavalent state as TcO4 - . One option for the management of Tc at the Hanford site is its vitrification into a borosilicate glass. The behavior of Tc during vitrification is problematic, as it …