This long-standing symposia series has become the premier, international forum for scientific and engineering issues related to all levels and types of radioactive wastes and their management. Topics include: fuel cladding and spent nuclear fuel; container fabrication and corrosion; performance assessment; repository performance; radionuclide sorption and transport; cement-based materials and waste containment; corrosion of ceramic wasteforms; structure and characterization of ceramics; radiation effects; natural analogs; wasteform characterization and processing; and corrosion and characterization of glass wasteforms.

This long-standing symposia series has become the premier, international forum for scientific and engineering issues related to all levels and types of radioactive wastes and their management. Topics include: fuel cladding and spent nuclear fuel; container fabrication and corrosion; performance assessment; repository performance; radionuclide sorption and transport; cement-based materials and waste containment; corrosion of ceramic wasteforms; structure and characterization of ceramics; radiation effects; natural analogs; wasteform characterization and processing; and corrosion and characterization of glass wasteforms.

This volume opens with a keynote lecture by Rodney Ewing, member of the Board of Radioactive Waste Management of the National Research Council. Ewing summarizes 25 years of materials research in nuclear waste, emphasizing the progress that has been made and the challenges that still confront investigators and technologists in materials science and repository performance evaluation. The session is followed by one on container materials and engineered barriers, and includes a discussion on the corrosion performance expected for waste packages in the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Invited papers on performance assessment and repository studies for different national programs are also highlighted, with representation from the United States, Sweden, Japan, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. A large number of papers focus on the structure, properties, and degradation of various waste forms such as glasses, ceramics (mostly for plutonium immobilization), cements, and spent nuclear fuel. For the second consecutive time, the number of papers on ceramics far exceeds those on glass, which had been the dominant material discussed at this symposium over the prior 23 years. New studies on zirconates confirm the recently discovered high radiation damage-resistance of this material. Additional topics include: performance assessment in high-level waste disposal; performance assessment in low-level waste disposal; ceramic structure and corrosion; radiation effects in ceramics; glass structure and corrosion; spent fuel; spent fuel cladding and alternative waste forms; cements in radioactive waste immobilization; contaminant transport; natural analogs; and waste processing.

The third International Symposium on the Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management was held in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 17-20, 1980, as part of the Annual Meeting of the Materials Research Society. The purpose of this Symposium was to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of scientific research dealing with all levels and types of radioactive wastes and their management. Since its inception in 1978, this annual Symposium has provided a unique opportunity for scientists of widely differing backgrounds to share in such discussions. The proceedings of the first two meetings were published as Volumes 1 and 2 in this series. The fourth Symposium is scheduled to be held in the autumn of 1981. The efforts of many people went into making this meeting a success. The scope of the 1980 Symposium was guided by the follow ing Steering Committee: K. J. Notz (Chairman), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA G. H. Daly, Department of Energy, USA D. E. Ferguson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA R. H. Flowers, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, UK F. Girardi, Ispra Establishment, Italy T. Ishihara, Radioactive Waste Management Center, Japan R. W. Lynch, Sandia Laboratories, USA S. A. Mayman, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. , Canada G. J. McCarthy, North Dakota State University, USA E. Merz, Kernforschunganlage Jillich, FRG L. Nilsson, KBS Project, Sweden D. M. Rohrer, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USA R. Roy, Pennsylvania State University, USA T. "E. Scott, Ames Laboratory, USA C.

The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.