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Grain Boundary Corrosion and Alteration Phase Formation During the Oxidative Dissolution of UO2 Pellets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

David J. Wronkiewicz ,
Edgar C. Buck  and
John K. Bates
David J. Wronkiewicz
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439–4837, USA, [email protected]
Edgar C. Buck
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439–4837, USA, [email protected]
John K. Bates
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439–4837, USA, [email protected]
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Abstract

The alteration behavior of UO2 pellets following their reaction under unsaturated drip-test conditions, at 90°C, for time periods of up to 10 years has been examined by solid phase and leachate analyses. Sample reactions were characterized by preferential dissolution of grain boundaries between the original press-sintered UO2 granules comprising the samples, development of a polygonal network of open channels along the intergrain boundaries, and spallation of surface granules that had undergone severe grain boundary corrosion. The development of a dense mat of alteration phases after two years of reaction trapped loose granules, resulting in reduced rates of particulate uranium release. The paragenetic sequence of alteration phases that formed on the present samples was similar to that observed in surficial weathering zones of natural uraninite (UO2) deposits, with alkali and alkaline earth uranyl silicates representing the long-term solubility-limiting phases for uranium in both systems.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 465: Symposium II – Scienfific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XX , 1996 , 519
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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