Ancient Metallurgy and Nuclear Waste Containment
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ANCIENT METALLURGY AND NUCLEAR WASTE CONTAINMENT
MARTHA GOODWAY Conservation Analytical Laboratory, MRC 534, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 20560
ABSTRACT Archaeological artifacts of glass, ceramic, and metal provide examples of long term durability and as such have been surveyed by the nuclear agencies of several countries as a possible guide to choices of materials for the containment of nuclear waste. In the case of metals evaluation is difficult because of the loss of many artifacts to recycling and corrosion processes, as well as by uncertainty as to the environmental history under which the remainder survived. More recently the study of ancient metallurgy has expanded to included other materials associated with metals processing. It is suggested that an impermeable ceramic composite used in ancient metals processing installations should be reproduced and tested for its resistance to radiation damage. This material was synthesized more than two millennia ago and has a proven record of durability. These installations have had no maintenance but are intact, some still holding water.
STUDIES OF ANCIENT METAL In the search for answers to the problem of nuclear waste containment it is reasonable to turn to the archaeological record for examples of materials with proven long term durability. The nuclear agencies of several countries initiated the evaluation of archaeological objects for such evidence in the hope of identifying a metal suitable for the application. In the 1970s archaeometallurgical experts such as the late Ronald F. Tylecote in Great Britain, and institutes such as Battelle in the United States, were called upon to make these evaluations. The Conservation Analytical Laboratory was among several units of the Smithsonian Institution that were consulted for expertise in this area. Since that time the study of ancient metallurgy has been expanded. It is now referred to as archaeometallurgy and is concerned with the mining, smelting and processing of metals in addition to the study of the objects produced [1]. The earliest man-made metal is considered by some to be lead because of the ease with which it can be smelted. Beads of galena, a lustrous lead sulphide mineral, do in fact occur in early deposits, but no metallic lead of a date as early as the earliest copper artifacts has been found. Initially, studies of archaeological materials for nuclear applications tended to center on objects of tin bronze and arsenical copper. Dating from before 3000 BC, these
Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 294. ©1993 Materials Research Society
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are the earliest alloys known to have been produced and used in ancient cultures. Attempts to estimate the amount of metal available in ancient times have generally been limited in geographical area. The most extensive was published in 1971 by Clair Patterson [2], who surveyed the geological sources of native metals available to early man.
THE PROBLEMS OF ASSESSMENT A quantitative assessment of the durability of ancient metals is beset by several problems. Many o
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