French Nuclear Waste Vitrification: State-Of-The-Art And Future Developments

France decided in the late 1950's to solidify high-level radioactive waste. Vitrification was soon selected as the means of containment when initial research confirmed that a glass matrix could easily accommodate most radionuclides Three major objectives were assigned to the French vitrification research and devlopment program: specify the chemical composition of the glass according to the composition of the waste solutions; characterise glass as a containment medium; and implement the technology necessary to fabricate the containment glass under both nonradioactive and radioactive conditions.