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The Formulation of an Integrated Physicochemical-Hydrologic Model for Predicting Waste Nuclide Retardation in Geologic Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

A. B. Muller ,
D. Langmuir  and
L. E. Duda
A. B. Muller
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA;
D. Langmuir
Affiliation:
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA;
L. E. Duda
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
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Abstract

The inability of empirical single value elemental Rd values to model radionuclide retardation in natural groundwater systems has demonstrated the need for developing a comprehensive integrated phenomenological model of the physicochemical and hydrologic mechanisms involved in retardation. The model must account for: (1) radioactive decay, (2) chemical precipitation/dissolution of bulk phases, (3) chemical substitution reactions, (4) isotopic exchange reactions, (5) cation and anion exchange, (6) specific adsorption, (7) diffusion into adjacent flow paths, (8) diffusion into fluid not involved in flow, (9) diffusion into the solid matrix and (10) ultrafiltration. The formulation of such a model is proposed, based on a reaction-path-simulation code with modifications for adsorption processes (by a surface-complexation site-binding model) and diffusional processes. The coupling of the physicochemical portion of this model to a ground-water transport code can be achieved by alternately iterating through the chemical and physical portions of the code during each time step. Sensitivity analysis used to determine dominant species, dominant retardation mechanisms and temporal and spatial homogeneities in the flow system will allow the integrated model to be reduced to a manageable form.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 15: Symposium D – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management VI , 1982 , 547
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1983

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References

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