Woodhead Publishing Cementitious Matrices for Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste Immobilization (Woodhead Publishing Series in Civil and Structural Engineering)

Cement-based materials are integral to radioactive waste repositories, providing versatile solutions for diverse management and disposal strategies. Cementitious Matrices for Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste Immobilization reports research progress in this context, reviewing both traditional solidification methodologies and state-of-the-art developments in cementation technologies that promise to fulfill safety functions more dependably and ensure closer compliance with environmentally conscious practices and regulations. The book proves to be a compelling resource for readers at various levels of familiarity with the topic both in academia and industry by tackling all facets of designing a waste form. It begins by classifying and characterizing radioactive wastes and explaining the chemistry of cementitious matrices, facilitating the choice of solidification agents and processing equipment. It offers guidelines for the selection of bonding materials, such as hydraulic cement or polymers, and discusses several admixtures and adsorbents to enhance embedding, binder properties, and contaminant stabilization. It also includes statistical techniques for generating response surface models for large, complicated applications and case studies that collate the international authoring team’s first-hand insights into optimized handling of immobilized waste forms. Substantiates the efficacy of cementitious matrices for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste immobilization in terms of adaptability, durability, and overall low environmental impact Provides step-by-step instructions to model the chemical binding processes of radioactive elements within zeolite-like cementitious matrices for predicting their behavior under various environmental conditions, thereby contributing to more reliable safety assessments of radioactive waste repositories Features case studies which detail practical-experience scenarios of the use of alkali-activated cement for waste management and disposal at nuclear power stations with different types of reactors