WIPP/SRL in situ testing program: MIIT (Materials Interface Interactions Tests) update 1988

The first series of in situ, high-level wasteform leaching tests to be conducted in the United States was started on July 22, 1986. This effort, the WIPP Materials Interface Interactions Tests (MITT), involves the underground tests emplacement of about 1900 (nonradioactive) waste form, metal container, and geologic samples in the bedded salt at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Samples were supplied from seven countries and are being analyzed by laboratories and universitites in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Posttest analyses of samples removed after 0.5 and 1 yrs of testing are in progress now. Preliminary results on wasteform leaching and metal sample corrosion are reviewed; most samples had very little degradation. The MIIT data complement other laboratory and international in situ efforts involving underground field testing of Savannah River Laboratory simulated nuclear waste glasses. 14 refs., 6 figs.