Geochemical information for the West Chestnut Ridge Central Waste Disposal Facility for low-level radioactive waste

Technical Report · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6925963· OSTI ID:6925963

Seeley, F G; Kelmers, A D

Geochemical support activities for the Central Waste Disposal Facility (CWDF) project included characterization of site materials, as well as measurement of radionuclide sorption and desorption isotherms and apparent concentration limit values under site-relevant laboratory test conditions. The radionuclide sorption and solubility information is needed as input data for the pathways analysis calculations to model expected radioactivity releases from emplaced waste to the accessible environment under various release scenarios. Batch contact methodology was used to construct sorption and desorption isotherms for a number of radionuclides likely to be present in waste to be disposed of at the site. The sorption rates for uranium and europium were rapid (> 99.8% of the total radionuclide present was adsorbed in approx. 30 min). With a constant-pH isotherm technique, uranium, strontium, cesium, and curium exhibited maximum Rs values of 4800 to > 30,000 L/kg throughout the pH range 5 to 7. Sorption ratios were generally lower at higher or lower pH levels. Retardation factors for uranium, strontium, and cesium, explored by column chromatographic tests, were consistent with the high sorption ratios measured in batch tests for these radionuclides. The addition of as little as 0.01 M organic reagent capable of forming strong soluble complexes with metals (e.g., ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or citric acid) was found to reduce the sorption ratio for uranium by as much as two orders of magnitude. Substitution of an actual low-level waste site trench water for groundwater in these tests was found to give a similar reduction in the sorption ratio.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6925963
• Report Number(s): ORNL-6061; ON: DE84013765
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ACTINIDES
ADSORPTION
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
CESIUM
CHEMISTRY
COBALT
CURIUM
DATA
DATA COMPILATION
DESORPTION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EUROPIUM
GEOCHEMISTRY
GROUND WATER
HALOGENS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
IODINE
ISOTHERM
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUMERICAL DATA
ORNL
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
RARE EARTHS
SOILS
SOLUBILITY
SORPTION
STRONTIUM
TECHNETIUM
THORIUM
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
URANIUM
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER