Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T09:47:12.285Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

237Np aND 239Pu Solution Behavior During Hydrothermal Testing of Simulated Nuclear Waste Glass with Basalt and Steel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

Janet A. Schramke
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory Richland, Washington 99352 USA
Scott A. Simonson
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory Richland, Washington 99352 USA
David G. Coles
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory Richland, Washington 99352 USA
Get access

Abstract

A series of hydrothermal experiments were carried out on 237Np- and 239Pu-doped PNL 76–68 glass, synthetic basalt groundwater, basalt, and cast steel. These hydrothermal experiments are part of the Basalt Waste Isolation Project investigation of the interactions of waste package components in a basalt repository. Experiments of three months duration were conducted in Dickson-type rocking autoclaves at 200°C and 30 MPa, with an initial fluid to solid weight ratio of 10:1. All solid materials were ground and sieved to a narrow size fraction. The experiments carried out were: glass and groundwater; glass, basalt, and groundwater; glass, steel, and groundwater; and glass, steel, basalt, and groundwater. Unfiltered, 4000 Â filtered, and 18 Å filtered solutions were analyzed to determine the concentrations of radionuclides in solution and those associated with colloids.

The quantities of 237Np and 239Pu in solution were very small. Worstcase calculations indicate that 0.01% or less of the total radionuclide inventories were present in solution. The highest solution concentrations of the actinide dopants were observed in the experiments with basalt, even though smaller amounts of glass were dissolved than in the experiments without basalt. The observed differences in the solution concentrations of 237Np and 239Pu were probably controlled by differences in the reaction products, which were clinoptilolite in the experiments with basalt, and an Fe-Zn smectite clay in the experiments without basalt.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Seyfried, W. E. Jr., Gordon, P. C., and Dickson, F. W., “A New Reaction Cell for Hydrothermal Solution Equipment,” Am. Mineralogist, 64, 646649 (1979).Google Scholar
[] Bradley, D. J., Harvey, C. O., and Turcotte, R. P., Leaching of Actinides and Technetium from Simulated High-Level Waste Glass, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington (1979), PNL-3152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[3rsqb; Mellinger, G. B., and Daniel, J. L., Approved Reference and Testing Materials for Use in Nuclear Waste Management Research and Development Programs, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington (1983), PNL-4955−1.Google Scholar
[4] Jones, T. E., Reference Material Chemistry, Synthetic Groundwater Formulation, Rockwell Hanford Operations, Richland, Washington (1982), RHO-BW-S-7P.Google Scholar
[5] Palmer, R. A., Aden, G. D., Johnson, R. G., Jones, T. E., Lane, D. L., and Noonan, A. F., Characterization of Reference Materials for the Barrier Materials Test Program, Rockwell Hanford Operations, Richland, Washington (1982), RHO-BW-ST-27P.Google Scholar
[6] Allen, C. C., and Strope, M. B., “Microcharacterization of Basalt–Considerations for a Nuclear Waste Repository,” Microbeam Analysis, 51–53 (1983).Google Scholar
[7] Doremus, R. H., 1973, Glass Science, (Wiley and Sons, New York, 1973).Google Scholar