An International initiative on long-term behavior of high-level nuclear waste glass

Gin, S.*; Abdelouas, A.*; Criscenti, L.*; Ebert, W.*; Ferrand, K.*; Geisler, T.*; Harrison, M.*; Inagaki, Yaohiro*; Mitsui, Seiichiro  ; Mueller, K. T.*; Marra, J.*; Pantano, C.*; Pierce, E.*; Ryan, J.*; Schofield, J.*; Steefel, C.*; Vienna, J.*

The nations producing borosilicate glass as a confinement material for high-level waste resulting from spent fuel reprocessing have decided to reinforce scientific collaboration in order to obtain consensus on the mechanisms controlling the long-term dissolution rate of glass. This goal is the most important issue for developing reliable predictive models usable for performance assessment and safety demonstration of geological storage of such materials. This collaboration involves numerous laboratories working either in fundamental or applied research and using all the modern tools available in material science. We present first the situation of the six countries involved in the project regarding their history in nuclear waste vitrification, current policy, and geological disposal project development. This provides an understanding of the common and country specific needs regarding the issue of long-term behavior of glass. Then main proposals and first results are briefly presented.