Consideration of Nuclear Criticality When Directly Disposing Highly Enriched Spent Nuclear Fuel in Unsaturated Tuff - II: Geochemical Constraints
- Sandia National Laboratories (United States)
This article presents several reasonable cases in which four mechanisms - dissolution, physical mixing, adsorption, and precipitation (either chemical change or evaporation) - might concentrate fissile material in and around a disposal container for radioactive waste at the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The possible masses, concentrations, and volume are then compared to criticality limits. The cases examined evaluate the geologic barrier role in preventing criticality since engineered options for preventing criticality (e.g., boron or gadolinium neutron absorber in the disposal container) are not considered. The solid concentrations able to form in the natural environment are insufficient for criticality to occur because (a) solutions of {sup 235}U and {sup 239}Pu are clearly not critical; (b) physical mixing of fissile material with the entire potential iron oxide (as goethite - FeOOH) in a waste package is not critical; (c) the adsorption of {sup 239}Pu on consolidated iron oxide in a waste package is not critical; (d) the adsorption of {sup 235}U on consolidated iron oxide in a waste package is not critical when accounting for reduced adsorption because of carbonates at high pH; (e) the filtration of iron oxide colloids, containing fissile material, by the thin invert material is not critical; (f) insufficient retention through precipitation of {sup 235}U or {sup 239}Pu occurs in the invert; (g) adsorption of {sup 235}U and {sup 239}Pu on devitrified or clinoptolite-rich tuff below the repository is not critical; (h) the average precipitation/adsorption of {sup 235}U as uranyl silicates in the tuff is not critical by analogy with calcite deposition in lithophysae at Yucca Mountain; and (i) precipitation/adsorption (caused by cyclic drying) as uranyl silicates on fracture surfaces of the tuff is not critical by analogy with the oxidation of UO{sub 2}, migration of U{sup VI}, and precipitation in fractures at the Nopal I ore deposit in Mexico.
- OSTI ID:
- 20837809
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 144, Issue 2; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2006 American Nuclear Society (ANS), United States, All rights reserved. http://epubs.ans.org/; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0029-5450
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ADSORPTION
CALCITE
CARBONATES
CRITICALITY
FISSILE MATERIALS
GADOLINIUM
GEOCHEMISTRY
GOETHITE
IRON OXIDES
PLUTONIUM 239
PRECIPITATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SOLUTIONS
SPENT FUELS
TUFF
URANIUM 235
URANIUM DIOXIDE
URANYL SILICATES
YUCCA MOUNTAIN