Publications Details

Phosphate Cement Development for Dual Purpose Canister Fillers

Rigali, Mark J.; Phillips, Mark L.

The performance of APCs with relatively low compressive strength and poor stability under hydrothermal conditions make them less than desirable for the DPC use case. Meanwhile, grossite as a primary filler material or as a modifier has resulted in marked improvements in the properties of several DPC cement filler candidates. Grossite CAPCs have substantial mechanical strength even after irradiation. However, the significant decrease in strength observed post-irradiation requires further investigation before it is advanced as a material for the use case. As a modifier, grossite improves strength and set times of the APC and WAPC cements. Hibonite CAPCs also show considerable promise although their degradation under hydrothermal conditions is a potentially significant liability. Finally, with recent improvements in working time and compressive strength, the WAPCs remain in contention as viable candidates for the DPC use case.