Immobilization Science of Cement Systems

Abstract

The long-term nature of waste immobilization means that experimental monitoring of matrix performance over the lifetime of a waste repository is impractical. This imposes a need to develop models that will satisfactorily predict system performance under a range of conditions representative of the exposure environment. Such models are only developed from an understanding of the basic physico-chemical properties of the cement-waste system. To this end, studies of real wastes and waste simulants in cement systems have received considerable attention over recent years and much information has been generated on cement hydration, leach characteristics, and matrix microstructure. More recently, the fundamental chemistries of cements containing nonradioactive priority industrial pollutants have been studied, and this article has set out to highlight recent uses of cements in these areas and to summarize some important results from studies of the interactions of specific waste species and cement systems.