Discussion on Packing Density of Radioactive Spent Resins after Hot Super-Compaction

The treatment of radioactive spent resins by hot super-compaction is one of the effective methods to reduce the volume of radioactive spent resins. Analyzing the packing density of resin powder by powder packing theory, it is found that the maximum packing density can be realized when the resin powder contains a variety of particle sizes and the particle size and mass fraction of adjacent particles are in a specific proportion. The results of hot super-compaction test of non-radioactive resins show that when the grinded and dried resin powder is compacted by pressure 20000 kN, its relative packing density is 73.3% and its density is 1.1 g/cm³, which is less than the theoretical value of multiple packing density. By improving the grinding process and controlling the particle size distribution of resin powder after grinding, can be increase the relative packing density of resin powder and reduce the volume of wastes. (authors)