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Corrosion Mechanisms of Spent Fuel Under Oxidizing Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

P. A. Finn ,
R. Finch ,
E. Buck  and
J. Bates
P. A. Finn
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439USA
R. Finch
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439USA
E. Buck
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439USA
J. Bates
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439USA
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Abstract

The release of 99Tc can be used as a reliable marker for the extent of spent oxide fuel reaction under unsaturated high-drip-rate conditions at 90°C. Evidence from leachate data and from scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) examination of reacted fuel samples is presented for radionuclide release, potential reaction pathways, and the formation of alteration products. In the ATM-103 fuel, 0.03 of the total inventory of 99Tc is released in 3.7 years under unsaturated and oxidizing conditions. Two reaction pathways that have been identified from SEM are 1) through-grain dissolution with subsequent formation of uranyl alteration products, and 2) grain-boundary dissolution. The major alteration product identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM, is Na-boltwoodite, Na[(UO2)(SiO3OH)]H20, which is formed from sodium and silicon in the water leachant.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 506: Symposium – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXI , 1997 , 123
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

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References

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