Radionuclide reactions with groundwater and basalts from Columbia River basalt formations
Chemical reactions of radionuclides with geologic materials found in Columbia River basalt formations were studied. The objective was to determine the ability of these formations to retard radionuclide migration from a radioactive waste repository located in deep basalt. Reactions that can influence migration are precipitation, ion-exchange, complexation, and oxidation-reduction. These reactions were studied by measuring the effects of groundwater composition and redox potential (Eh) on radionuclide sorption on fresh basalt surfaces, a naturally altered basalt, and a sample of secondary minerals associated with a Columbia River basalt flow. In addition, radionuclide sorption isotherms were measured for these materials and reaction kinetics were determined. The radionuclides studied were /sup 137/Cs, /sup 85/Sr, /sup 75/Se, /sup 95m/Tc, /sup 237/Np, /sup 241/Am, /sup 226/Ra and /sup 237/Pu. The Freundlich equation accurately describes the isotherms when precipitation of radionuclides does not occur. In general, sorption increased in the order: basalt < altered basalt < secondary minerals. This increase in sorption corresponds to increasing surface area and cation exchange capacity. The Eh of the system had a large effect on technetium, plutonium, and neptunium sorption. Technetium(VII), Pu(VI), and Np(V) are reduced to Tc(IV), Pu(IV), and Np(IV), respectively, under Eh conditions expected in deep basalt formations. The kinetics of radionuclide sorption and basalt-groundwater reactions were observed over a period of 18 weeks. Most sorption reactions stabilized after about four weeks. Groundwater composition changed the least in contact with altered basalt. Contact with secondary minerals greatly increased Ca, K, and Mg concentrations in the groundwater.
- Research Organization:
- Rockwell International Corp., Richland, WA (United States). Rockwell Hanford Operations
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-77RL01030
- OSTI ID:
- 6468248
- Report Number(s):
- RHO-SA-217; CONF-8106119-1; ON: DE81025506; TRN: 81-012023
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Northwest regional American Chemical Society meeting, Bozeman, MT, USA, 17 Jun 1981
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
AMERICIUM 241
SORPTION
BASALT
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
CESIUM 137
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GROUND WATER
NEPTUNIUM 237
PLUTONIUM 237
RADIUM 226
SELENIUM 75
STRONTIUM 85
TECHNETIUM 95
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
ISOMERIC NUCLEI
MINERALS
PRECIPITATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM ISOTOPES
DATA
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IGNEOUS ROCKS
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
NEPTUNIUM ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
ROCKS
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
SELENIUM ISOTOPES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
VOLCANIC ROCKS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
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