The following link https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer%20products/vaseline.htm.

This is a
site run by the Health Physics Society (http://hps.org/), who are specialists in radiation protection and
they catalog the scientific and commercial history of radioactivity and radiation.

Uranium Glass
https://www.cmog.org/article/chemistry-glass - A useful website that describes the chemistry of glass
and exact role of each traditional additive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass - The portion on Structure sheds light on the fact that it’s an
amorphous material.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borosilicate_glass - Info and %w/w constituents of common boro-silicate

glass.

http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/2016/1/Strengthening_of_sodaborosilicate_Talimian.pdf - The photo

of the structure of boro-silicate glass was taken from this pdf on the “Strengthening of Soda-Borosilicate
Glasses by Ion Exchange Process”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_diuranate - Info about the sodium salt dissolving into the silica
matrix during the initial firing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass

https://books.google.ca/books?
id=LJSZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12&dq=there+are+three+classes+for+oxide+glass:+network+formers,
+intermediates,+and+modifiers&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q=there%20are%20three%20classes
%20for%20oxide%20glass%3A%20network%20formers%2C%20intermediates%2C%20and
%20modifiers&f=false – Glass network modifiers generally have an oxidation state that’s greater or
equal to 6. This is an excerpt from Glass Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Properties and Applications.

“Uranium Redox States in Borosilicate Compositions” – pp. 1 explains that uranium is UO3 (+6) in glasses
formed in oxidative conditions (in air). +6 glasses generally act as modifiers.

What is glass made of?

Most conventional glasses consist of three distinct parts: a former, a flux and a stabilizer.

Former: “make up the largest percentage of the mixture to be melted. In typical soda-lime-silica glass
the former is silica (Silicon dioxide) in the form of sand.

Network Modifier: “lower the temperature at which the formers will melt. Soda (Sodium carbonate) and
Potash (Potassium carbonate), both alkalis, are common fluxes. Potash glass is slightly more dense than
soda glass.”

Largest influence over the properties of the glass

Intermediates: “make the glass strong and water resistant. Calcium carbonate, often called calcined
limestone, is a stabilizer. Without a stabilizer, water and humidity attack and dissolve glass.”
 Generally, Si O2 forms a square lattice in crystalline forms like quartz. However, when heated to
melting and cooled very quickly, the molecules don’t have time to move back into an ordered structure.
A glass is therefore an amorphous material that lacks any long-range periodicity (no distinct lattice
structure), but they do possess a degree of short-range order with respect to the shape of neighboring
clusters of silica.

In terms of borosilicate glass, the BO3 from the boric acid acts as another former in tandem
with the silica (what the main body of the glass is made of).

Soda ash is commonly added as a flux. The sodium from the soda ash incorporates itself into the
structure of the glass as a cation and increases its stability. Traditionally, alumina (aluminum oxide) is
added at around 2-3% w/w in traditional borosilicate glass as seen in the image above. Generally,
additional oxides are added to glasses in order to change their physical properties depending on their
purpose. The most common form of everyday glass (as a durable material for things like bottles) is soda-
lime glass, which is a mixture of silica, soda ash and limestone (limestone adds calcium cations as
modifiers, which increases the glass’ durability).

High-borate borosilicate glasses with smaller amounts of silica, alkalis and aluminum oxide (
A l 2 O 3) as added components have low softening points and low thermal expansion. The increased
borate content reduces the glass’ chemical resistance.

In terms of glass additives, there are a few different types, but the ones that incorporate
themselves into the glass are generally metals or metal oxides. These metals and metal oxides have the
potential to change a glass’ properties/color. Some common ones are FeO and PbO . Iron oxide was a
common contaminant in primitive soda-lime glass making and resulted in a blueish-green color.
Mixtures of PbO into glass make what’s called “crystal: or “lead glass”.
 “The technique of adding lead oxide (in quantities of between 10 and 30%) improved the
appearance of the glass and made it easier to melt using seal-coal as a furnace fuel. This technique also
increased the "working period" making the glass easier to manipulate.” Effectively the elaborately
worked glass known as “crystal” (like the crystal glass shows that went on in the Plaza from time to time)
is glass with lead oxide mixed into it replacing the use of limestone in traditional soda-lime glass.

For glasses with the sodium diuranate additive in oxidative conditions (air), the first thing to
happen is that the sodium dissociates and the U 2 O7 breaks down into smaller oxides. Borosilicate glass
made with sodium diuranate forms a glass where uranium oxidation degree is equal (6+) in products of
the glass crystallization. “In accordance with states, uranium at its low concentrations in the glasses (up
to 1wt.% of oxide) can take part as the glass modifier in form of U(6+)”. – taken from the pdf “Uranium
Redox States in Borosilicate Compositions”.

“The modifiers (calcium, lead, lithium, sodium, potassium) alter the network structure; they are
usually present as ions, compensated by nearby non-bridging oxygen atoms, bound by one
covalent bond to the glass network and holding one negative charge to compensate for the
positive ion nearby.” - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass - Bernhard, Kienzler; Marcus, Altmaier;
Christiane, Bube; Volker, Metz (2012). Radionuclide Source Term for HLW Glass, Spent Nuclear Fuel, and
Compacted Hulls and End Pieces (CSD-C Waste). KIT Scientific Publishing. ISBN 978-3-86644-907-7.

“It in terms of oxide is approximately 50 wt.%. So, uranium becomes the important glass macro
component and thus its states and position in a glass network can influence on final product properties.”
Based on this quote from “Uranium Redox States in Borosilicate Compositions” it seems that in large
proportions, uranium oxides can take part in the forming the structure of the glass.