Effect of neutralizing agent content on137Cs leaching from solidified boric acid waste products

For the preservation of environment from radioactive contamination, one of the properties necessary for solidified radioactive wastes is resistance to the release of radionuclides due to leaching by ground water after land disposal. In order to seek the optimum solidifying formulation for cement solidified boric acid concentrate from pressurized water reactor, a variety of specimens were prepared, varying the content of neutralizing agents and neutralization methods. For the leaching measurements, the ANS 16.1 Standard Leach Test was carried out for the specimens which had been mixed with small concentration of¹³⁷Cs to estimate the leachability index. According to our investigation, the optimum contents of neutralizing agents for neutralization of boric acid radioactive waste were determined in view of resistance ability to leaching. Eventually the leachability indices have turned out to be 5.807.91 depending on the formulations.