Pedro B. Macedo

Immobilization of radwastes in glass containers and products formed thereby

This invention relates to the immobilization of toxic materials, e.g., radioactive materials, in glass for extremely long periods of time. Toxic materials, such as radioactive wastes, which may be in the form of liquids, or solids dissolved or dispersed in liquids or gases, are deposited in a glass container which is heated to evaporate off non-radioactive volatile materials, if present; to decompose salts, such as nitrates, if any, and to drive off volatile non-radioactive decomposition products, and then to collapse the walls of said container on said radwaste and seal the container and immobilize the contained radwaste, and then burying the resulting product underground or at sea. In another embodiment, the glass container also contains glass particles, e.g., spheres or granules, on which the radwaste solids are deposited. In other embodiments, the glass container can be made of porous glass or non-porous glass, and/or the contained glass particles can be made of porous or non-porous glass or mixtures of porous or non-porous glass, and/or the glass container can be open at one end and closed at the other or open at both ends, and/or the glass container can be closed at one end with a porous or non-porous closure and open at the other end or closed at the other end with a porous closure. When a porous glass container and/or porous glass particles are used, the radwaste deposits within the pores of the glass which are closed during the subsequent heating step after non-radioactive volatiles have been driven off and prior to sealing the container. There results a substantially impervious glass article in which the radwaste is entrapped and which is highly resistant to leaching action. The products resulting from the use of porous glass, as the container, contents, or both, can be used as sources of radioactivity for a variety of applications in medicine, sterilization, food preservation and any other application where radiation can be beneficially employed.