The effect of alpha irradiation on the performance of glass matrix in simulated radioactive contaminated soil by microwave treatment

Understanding the irradiation stability of radioactive waste matrices is beneficial for long-term waste treatment. In this work, different contents of Nd2O3 were mixed with soil to simulated nuclear contaminated soil wastes. Through microwave sintering method, these wastes were transformed into glassy phase matrices at 1300 degrees C. 0.5 MeV He2+ ions were utilized to irradiate the matrices to obtain the irradiation stability under different fluences (1 x 1014 to 1 x 1017ions/cm2). The results show that the matrices have a slight influence on the phase composition after irradiation, indicating a considerable stable stability. After irradiation at the highest fluences, the Vickers hardness of the matrix doped with 25 wt.% Nd2O3 decreased from 7.07 GPa to 6.72 GPa. Combing with the enhancing leaching rate of the simulated element, the microstructure might be affected under the 0.5 MeV He2+ ions irradiation. Comparing with other reported data on Nd leaching rate, the matrix irradiated with the max fluences has considerable chemical stability, indicating the suitableness of microwave sintering method of the treatment of nuclear contaminated soil wastes.