With the rapid growth of nuclear power in China, a large number of dry wastes, which mainly include the high efficiency particulate air filters (glass fiber), cotton, polyethylene, and absorbent paper with low-level radioactivity and high volume, will be produced during the operation and maintenance of the nuclear power plants. Thermal plasma treatment is a world acceptable technology to incinerate and immobilize radioactive wastes, owing to the high volume reduction factor and the excellent chemical durability of the vitrified waste form. China has developed thermal plasma technology for the treatment of dry wastes from nuclear power plants for more than 15 years and the pilot plant has been constructed. This work will concentrate on the formulation of waste glass fiber to adapt to the vitrification process. A three-component (glass fiber-CaO-Na2O) constrained-region mixture experiment was designed and their viscosity data was mainly studied. The quadratic Scheffé model was used to plot the component effect on melting temperature. The retentions of simulated nuclides, such as Co, Sr, and Cs in the glasses were analyzed. In addition, the glass fiber as a glass matrix to immobilize residual ashes from the thermal plasma gasification of cotton, polyethylene, and absorbent paper was investigated as well.

During nuclear waste vitrification, loss of sodium (Na) and boron (B) occurs, as these elements are highly volatile at high temperatures, which causes fluctuations in composition and consequently affects the properties of the glass products. In this study, we investigated the volatilization behaviors of Na and B from a simulated high-level waste glass as functions of heating temperature and dwelling duration. Based on the data obtained regarding the composition of Na and B and the structure of the glass, a hypothetical model was proposed to explain the volatilization behaviors of Na and B from a structural viewpoint. As the loss of Na and B during vitrification, the crystallization of the glass occurred. Thus, the crystallization behavior of the simulated waste glass upon composition deviation was studied.

In this study, the electrochemical behavior of Sm on the binary liquid Al-Ga cathode in the LiCl-KCl molten salt system is investigated. First, the co-reduction process of Sm(III)-Al(III), Sm(III)-Ga(III), and Sm(III)-Ga(III)-Al(III) on the W electrode (inert) were studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), square-wave voltammetry (SWV) and open circuit potential (OCP) methods, respectively. It was identified that Sm(III) can be co-reduced with Al(III) or Ga(III) to form AlzSmy or GaxSmy intermetallic compounds. Subsequently, the under-potential deposition of Sm(III) at the Al, Ga, and Al-Ga active cathode was performed to confirm the formation of Sm-based intermetallic compounds. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analyses indicated that Ga3Sm and Ga6Sm intermetallic compounds were formed on the Mo grid electrode (inert) during the potentiostatic electrolysis in LiCl-KCl-SmCl3-AlCl3- GaCl3 melt, while only Ga6Sm intermetallic compound was generated on the Al-Ga alloy electrode during the galvanostatic electrolysis in LiCl-KCl-SmCl3 melt. The electrolysis results revealed that the interaction between Sm and Ga was predominant in the Al-Ga alloy electrode, with Al only acting as an additive to lower the melting point.

A total of 106 two month-old Nanjiang yellow goats (male were 32, female were 34 and castrated were 40) were divided into treatment group and control group to determine the growth performance. The treatment group was reared in grazing mode, experimental group was pastured with supplement feeding. The results showed that the body weight of male in experiment group was heavier by 9.82%(P＜0.05), 11.87%(P＜0.01), 16.91%(P＜0.01) and 23.99%(P＜0.05) than that in control group in 3,4,5 and 6 month-age. The body weight of female in experimental group was heavier by 11.54%(P＜0.05), 13.79%(P＜0.01), 17.47%(P＜0.01) and 21.15%(P＜0.01) than that in control group in 3,4,5 and 6 month-old. The body weight of castrator in experimental group was heavier by 1.58%, 1.99%, 13.08%(P＜0.01) and 15.76%(P＜0.01) than that in control group in 3,4,5 and 6 month-age. The daily increasing weight and body measurements of experimental group is improved more than control group, especially in 6 month-age.