Xenon adsorption on geological media and implications for radionuclide signatures

Journal Article · Tue Feb 13 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.01.029· OSTI ID:1420871

Paul, M. J.  ^[1]; Biegalski, S. R. ^[1]; Haas, D. A. ^[1]; Jiang, H. ^[1]; Daigle, H.  ^[1]; Lowrey, J. D. ^[2]

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1. The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Here, the detection of radioactive noble gases is a primary technology for verifying compliance with the pending Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. A fundamental challenge in applying this technology for detecting underground nuclear explosions is estimating the timing and magnitude of the radionuclide signatures. While the primary mechanism for transport is advective transport, either through barometric pumping or thermally driven advection, diffusive transport in the surrounding matrix also plays a secondary role. From the study of primordial noble gas signatures, it is known that xenon has a strong physical adsorption affinity in shale formations. Given the unselective nature of physical adsorption, isotherm measurements reported here show that non-trivial amounts of xenon adsorb on a variety of media, in addition to shale. A dual-porosity model is then discussed demonstrating that sorption amplifies the diffusive uptake of an adsorbing matrix from a fracture. This effect may reduce the radioxenon signature down to approximately one-tenth, similar to primordial xenon isotopic signatures.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: SIAA14AVCVTT008; HDTRA1-12-1-0009; AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1420871
• Journal Information: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 187; ISSN 0265-931X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES