Alkaline degradation of organic materials contained in TRU wastes under repository conditions

Otsuka, Yoshiki*; Bamba, Tsunetaka

Alkaline degradation tests for 9 organic materials were conducted under the conditions of TRU waste disposal: anaerobic alkaline conditions. The tests were carried out at 90 C for 91 days. The sample materials for the tests were selected from the standpoint of constituent organic materials of TRU wastes. It has been found that cellulose and plastic solidified products are degraded relatively easily and that rubbers are difficult to degrade. It could be presumed that the alkaline degradation of organic materials occurs starting from the functional group in the material. Therefore, the degree of degradation difficulty is expected to be dependent on the kinds of functional group contained in the organic material.