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Bubble formation in nuclear glasses: A review

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Abstract

Highly radioactive waste is incorporated into a glass matrix to convert it into a safe, passive form suitable for long-term storage and disposal. It is currently known that alpha decay can generate gaseous species, which can nucleate into bubbles, either through the production of helium or from ballistic collisions with the glass network that liberate oxygen. An effective method to probe this phenomenon utilizes ion beams to either directly implant helium or investigate the damage due to ballistic collisions. This paper provides an overview of the methodology, summarizes the results of current studies, and draws comparisons between them. We find that the irradiation scheme as well as the temperature and composition of the glass are important in determining whether bubble formation will occur. We also explore how analytical techniques can promote bubble formation and suggest avenues for further work.

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Notes

  1. This reaction can also be written as 3He(d,α)p, which assumes that the electron from 1H is donated somewhere, for example, to the alpha particle, or that the 3He does not contain any electrons.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Anamul Haq Mir for providing the image of bubbles in a U.K. Ca/Zn glass formulation as well as Bill Weber for some useful discussion. We also acknowledge the support of the University of Manchester’s Dalton Cumbrian Facility (DCF), a partner in the National Nuclear User Facility, the EP SRC U.K. National Ion Beam Centre and the Henry Royce Institute. We recognize Paul Wady and Samir Shubeta for their assistance during this review.

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  1. Dalton Cumbrian Facility, The University of Manchester, Moor Row, Cumbria, CA24 3HA, UK

    Laura Leay

  2. Waste and Residues Processing Services, National Nuclear Laboratory, Sellafield, Seascale, CA20 1PG, UK

    Mike T. Harrison

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  1. Laura Leay
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Correspondence to Laura Leay.

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Leay, L., Harrison, M.T. Bubble formation in nuclear glasses: A review. Journal of Materials Research 34, 905–920 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2019.29

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