Neodymium incorporation in zirconolite-based glass-ceramics

The investigations on enhanced reprocessing of nuclear spent fuel, and notably on separating the long-lived minor actinides, such as Am and Cm, from the other fission products have led to the development of highly durable specific matrices such as glass-ceramics for their immobilization. This study deals with the characterization of zirconolite (CaZrT2O7) based glass-ceramics synthesized by devitrification of an aluminosilicate parent glass. Trivalent actinide ions were simulated by neodymium, which is a paramagnetic local probe. Glass-ceramics with Nd2O3 contents ranging from 0 to 10 weight % were prepared by heat treatment of a parent glass at two different growth temperatures: 1050 deg and 1200 deg C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements clearly indicate that Nd3+ ions are partly incorporated in zirconolite crystals formed in the bulk of the glass-ceramic samples. The amount of neodymium in the crystalline phase was estimated using ESR results and was found to decrease with increasing either heat treatment temperature or total Nd2O-3 content. Copyright (2001) Material Research Society