Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T17:52:20.685Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Conclusions from an Nea Workshop: The Role of Phenomenological Sorption Modelling in Performance Assessment of RadioactiveWaste Disposal Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

A.B. Muller
Affiliation:
OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Paris, France
D. Langmuir
Affiliation:
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
I. Neretnieks
Affiliation:
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Get access

Abstract

To give due credit to the barrier of the far field geologic environment in many host media it is necessary to account for sorption processes. The ultimate impact of sorption modelling will be in helping to define the degree of confidence that may be placed on geochemical retardation occurring in this barrier. For those involved in site characterisation, systems' design, design implementation and regulation, this confidence is best derived from a combination of a fundamental phenomenological understanding of the sorption process with empirical observations of sorption in natural environments. Neither alone is adequate. By performing a few additional measurements during classical Ko experiments, the data necessary for the more fundamental models, such as that of double-layer or surface ionization and complexation, may also be provided. The basis of these models and their integration into broader performance analysis are outlined in the context of how this maximises confidence in the geologic barrier of critically concerned groups.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1984

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

REFERENCES

1. Sorption modelling and measurement for nuclear waste disposal studies, (OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Paris, 1983).Google Scholar
2. Riese, A.C.; Adsorption of radium and thorium onto quartz and kaolinite: A comparison of solution/surface equilibrium models, Ph.D. dissertation in Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 292 p. (1982).Google Scholar
3. Hsi, C.-K.; Sorption of uranium (VI) by iron oxides, Ph.D. dissertation in Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 154 p. (1981).Google Scholar
4. Davis, J.A., James, R.O. and Leckie, J.O.; Surface ionization and complexation at the oxide/water interface: I. Computation of electrical double-layer properties in single electrolytes, J. Colloid and Interface Sci. 63, 3, 480499 (1978).Google Scholar
5. Neretnieks, I.; Diffusion in the rock matrix: An important factor in radionuclide retardation?, J. Geophys. Res. 85, 43794397 (1980).Google Scholar
6. Muller, A.B., Langmuir, D. and Duda, L.; The formulation of an integrated physicochemical-hydrologic model for predicting waste nuclide retardation in geologic media, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 15, 547564 (1983).Google Scholar
7. Langmuir, D.; Chapter 1, in: Adsorption from Aqueous Solutions, Tewari, P.H., ed. (Plenum, New York, 1981) pp 117.Google Scholar
8. Davis, J.A. and Leckie, J.O.; Speciation of adsorbed ions at the oxide“water interface, in: Chemical Modelling of Aqueous Systems, Jenne, E.A., ed., Am. Chem. Soc. Symp. Ser. 93, 299317 (1979).Google Scholar
9. Davis, J.A. and Leckie, J.O.; Surface ionization and complexation at the oxide/water interface: III. Adsorption of anions, J. Colloid and Interface Sci. 74, 1, 3243 (1980).Google Scholar
10. Relyea, J.F. and Silva, R.D.; Application of a site-binding electrical, double-layer model to nuclear waste disposal, PNL-3898 (Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, WA, 1981).Google Scholar
11. Westall, J.C., Zacery, J.L. and Morel, F.M.M.; MINEQL: A computer program for the calculation of the chemical equilibrium composition of aqueous systems, Tech. Note 18, Water Quality Laboratory, Dept. of Civil Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, 1976).Google Scholar
12. Miller, C.W.; Toward a comprehensive model of chemical transport in porous media, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 15, 481488 (1983).Google Scholar
13. Rubin, J.; Transport of reacting solutes in porous media: Relation between mathematical nature of problem and chemical nature of reactions, Water Resources Research 19, 5, 12311252 (1983).Google Scholar