Static leach tests were conducted for simulated high-level waste (HLW) glass in CaCl
2/Ca(OH)
2 solutions to investigate the corrosion behavior of HLW glass under calcium-rich environments induced by cement based materials in geological repositories. Another series of leach tests were conducted in deionized water in the presence of iron to investigate the effects of iron over-pack on the glass corrosion.
In CaCl
2/Ca(OH)
2 solutions, corrosion of the glass was inhibited during the test period compared to that in deionized water at the pH range of 6 - 11, while higher corrosion rate was observed in the initial stage of the test in Ca(OH)
2 solution at the initial pH of 12. However, the corrosion rate dropped due to a formation of calcium silicates that covered the surface of the glass.
Under the condition that iron exists in the vicinity of the glass, glass corrosion was enhanced compared to that without iron throughout the testing period. In addition, an alteration layer including iron and silicon was observed at the interface between the glass surface and the iron after the leach tests, and thermodynamic calculation showed that formation of an iron silicate was favored under the chemical compositions of the leachate during the period. The enhancement of the glass corrosion was assumed to be accompanied with transformation of silica, a glass network former, into iron silicates.
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