Radiation damage effects in nuclear waste glasses

Abstract

Ion implantation is a convenient means of simulating α-decay damage in nuclear waste glasses. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and elastic recoil detection show that significant near-surface compositional changes can occur in leached Pb-ion implanted borosilicate glasses In addition, the rates and mechanisms for hydration, ion exchange, and network dissolution depend upon the glass composition. A critical ion energy deposition value has been noted at which major changes concur in near-surface elemental profiles of some leached implanted glasses. An interpretation of this latter effect, based on ion-track overlap and consequent plastic flow, is advanced.