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Title: Evaluation of isotope migration: land burial. Water chemistry at commercially operated low-level radioactive waste disposal sites. Quarterly progress report, April-June 1981

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5292556· OSTI ID:5292556

Results are reported for radionuclide sorption experiments performed under anaerobic conditions and as a function of solution/solid ratio for trench shale and waters collected at the Maxey Flats disposal site in Kentucky. The observed degree of sorption (equilibrium K/sub d/) varied unpredictably as a function of solution to solid ratio. Measurements of pH and Eh were performed before and after the determinations to determine if redox conditions were altered significantly during the experiments. The experimental procedure appears capable of maintaining anaerobic conditions during most of the determinations. Changes in solution/solid ratio appear to affect the observed equilibrium sorption more than any variations in redox state during the determinations. However, our final evaluation of the proposed test procedure for measuring sorption of radionuclides from anoxic groundwater is that the test is not completely reliable. Since further improvements in the experimental procedure are not planned, this type of batch sorption test for anoxic waters will be terminated. Organo-radionuclide complex stability experiments in controlled environment chambers were completed. The results indicate that the temporal stability of chelated radionuclides in low redox geochemical environments are not easily predicted from comparisons of appropriate association constants and solubility products. Empirical information is required to reliably predict the behavior of chelated radionuclides under field conditions. Controlled oxidation experiments using disposal site trench waters were initiated. Preliminary results suggest that high contents of dissolved ferrous iron in trench waters can act as redox buffers to preserve low redox conditions during subsurface migration. Data on coprecipitation of radionuclides on ferric oxyhydroxide will be reported when analyses are completed.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
5292556
Report Number(s):
NUREG/CR-2192-Vol.1-No.2; BNL-NUREG-51409-Vol.1-No.2; ON: DE82015017
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CESIUM 134
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
SORPTION
CESIUM 137
COBALT 60
COBALT COMPLEXES
STABILITY
EUROPIUM 152
GROUND WATER
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
SHALES
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
STRONTIUM 85
ZINC COMPLEXES
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
EDTA
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
KENTUCKY
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
PH VALUE
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
AMINO ACIDS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
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CHELATING AGENTS
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EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION IV
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
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WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
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