Effects of sorption and decay on steady-state radionuclide release rates

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5586324

Light, W B; Lee, W W.L.; Chambre, P L; Pigford, T H

In this paper the authors analyze the effects of equilibrium sorption and radioactive decay on steady-state mass transfer rates from waste packages in nuclear waste repositories. Understanding these processes will contribute to meeting the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's subsystem performance requirement for the engineered barrier system to the design of backfills for nuclear waste packages. Considered is steady-state dissolution of a nuclide, without precursors, from a spherical-equivalent waste form surrounded by backfill and porous rock. The backfill and porous rock are water saturated. A flow of ground water is assumed low enough that diffusion is the dominant process of mass transfer. Assuming local sorption equilibrium and constant near-saturation concentration of dissolved species at the waste form surface, the governing equations for space-time-dependent nuclide concentrations were solved, and a parametric study was performed to investigate the effects of sorption and decay. Two quantities are of interest: nuclide concentration at the backfill/rock interface, divided by the nuclide concentration at the same location when backfill is replaced by rock, and the mass transfer rate at the backfill/rock interface, normalized to mass transfer rate for a stable nuclide at that location.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Berkeley
• OSTI ID: 5586324
• Report Number(s): CONF-870601-Summs.
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 54
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
DECAY
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LEAKS
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
ROCKS
SORPTION
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES