Role of clay minerals as backfill in radioactive waste disposal
The use of clay minerals as backfill materials in high level radioactive waste isolation systems is presently a subject of great interest and research in the United States and abroad. This paper describes the potential role of clay minerals as backfill in a high level waste repository and presents a review of the research and development activities in this field. A technical evaluation of the existing data generated in the United States and abroad indicates that clay minerals, especially the smectites, can serve as an extremely effective barrier to radionuclide migration for periods of thousands of years. However, more data are required on the stability, the sorption characteristics, and the swelling behavior of clay minerals under anticipated repository conditions to assess their long-term performance in a waste repository. 31 refs., 5 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH00016
- OSTI ID:
- 5100905
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-NUREG-30204; CONF-8109280-1; ON: TI86000925
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM SILICATES
BACKFILLING
BASALT
BENTONITE
CHALCOGENIDES
CLAYS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
GRANITES
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
IGNEOUS ROCKS
INORGANIC ION EXCHANGERS
ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MINERALS
MORDENITE
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLUTONIC ROCKS
QUARTZ
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
ROCKS
SILICATE MINERALS
SILICATES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
SMECTITE
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
SWELLING
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
VOLCANIC ROCKS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
ZEOLITES