ASTM International Standard Practices for Dissolving Glass Containing Radioactive and Mixed Waste for Chemical and Radiochemical Analysis ASTM C1463-13

These practices cover three standard technique for dissolving glass samples containing radioactive, nuclear, and mixed wastes. These techniques used together or independently will produce solutions that can be analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), radiochemical methods and wet chemical techniques for major components, minor components and radionuclides. The practices for dissolving silicate matrix samples each require the sample to be initially dried and ground to a fine powder. The first practice involves the mixing and fusion of the sample with sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO4) in a muffle for a given amount of time and temperature. The sample is then cooled, dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and diluted to appropriate volume for analyses. The second practice, on the other hand, involves the fusion of the sample with potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium peroxide (Na2O2) using an electric bunsen burner, dissolving the fused sample in water and dilute HCl, and making to volume for analyses. Finally, the third practice involves the dissolution of the sample using a microwave oven. The ground sample is digested in a microwave oven using a mixture of hydrofluoric (HF) and nitric (HNO3) acids. Boric acid is added to the resulting solution to complex excess fluoride ions.