Relevance of the choice of spark plasma sintering parameters in obtaining a suitable microstructure for iodine-bearing apatite designed for the conditioning of I-129

The high chemical durability of iodine-bearing apatite phases makes them potentially attractive for immobilizing radioactive iodine. Reactive spark plasma sintering provides a dense ceramic as a wasteform. A design-of-experiments (DOE) approach was adopted to identify the main process/material parameters and their first order interactions in order to specify experimental conditions guaranteeing complete reaction, relative density of the wasteform exceeding 92% and the largest possible grain size. For a disposal of the wasteform in a deep geological repository, these characteristics allow minimization of the iodine release by contact with groundwater. It was found that sintering at a temperature of 450 degrees C with an initial specific surface area of 3.3 m(2) g(-1) for the powder reactants is sufficient in itself to achieve the targeted characteristics of the wasteform. However, this relies on a liquid sintering regime the efficiency of which can be limited by the lead iodide initial content in the mix as well as by its particle size. (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.