Waste Isolation Pilot Plant simulated waste compositions and mechanical properties

Analyses of the final state of collapse of various types of contact-handled waste drums are required to assess of the performance of the waste storage areas in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. To provide data for calculations, tests must use simulated, instead of actual waste. Data on the contents of the principal categories of contact-handled transuranic waste from the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory were used to define standard compositions of simulated waste. Categories of baseline waste will be created by mixing appropriate amounts of the simulants together. Selection of materials is discussed. Methods for estimating the consolidation characteristics of simulated waste are also described. Theoretical solid densities, theoretical solid compressibilities, and initial void volumes of various waste components are estimated, and a method for estimating consolidation curves in the absence of experimental data is described. 9 refs., 14 figs., 11 tabs