Simultaneous three‐dimensional elemental mapping of Hollandite and Pyrochlore material phases in ceramic waste form materials

Crystalline ceramics have been under development and consideration as matrices for immobilizing nuclear waste constituents for the past four decades and continue to be researched as an alternative to the most widely adapted technology, which uses vitrification into borosilicate glass as a means of waste immobilization.1 Waste immobilization using glass is advantageous as for large volume waste streams in which industrial‐scale vitrification is commonplace and demonstrated in the nuclear industry using simple glass fabrication techniques.2 Additionally, glasses have resilience to alpha radiation damage, and are able to accommodate both a relatively large number of different elements as well as some compositional uncertainty, which is unavoidable owing to analytical accuracies used to characterize the waste. However, glasses are susceptible to degradation and leaching of their matrix constituents; a condition that is exacerbated when exposed Received: 23 August 2018 | Revised: 17 January 2019 | Accepted: 22 January 2019 DOI: 10.1111/jace.16371