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A Coupled Chemical-Mass Transport Submodel for Predicting Radionuclide Release from an Engineered Barrier System Containing High-Level Waste Glass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

B. P. McGrail
Affiliation:
Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, P. O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352
M. J. Apted
Affiliation:
Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, P. O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352
D. W. Engel
Affiliation:
Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, P. O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352
A. M. Liebetrau
Affiliation:
Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, P. O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352
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Abstract

A mechanistic model describing a dynamic mass balance between the production and consumption of silicic acid was coupled to a near-field mass transport model to predict the dissolution kinetics of a high-level waste glass in a deep geologic repository. The effects of interactions between an iron overpack and the glass are described by a time-dependent precipitation reaction for a ferrous silicate mineral. The kinetic model is used to transform radionuclide concentration-versus-reaction progress values, predicted from a geochemical reaction path computer code, to concentration-versus-time values that are used to calculate the rate of radionuclide release by diffusive mass transfer to the surrounding host rock. The model provides for both solubility-limited and kinetically limited release; the rate-controlling mechanism is dependent on the predicted glass/groundwater chemistry.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1990

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References

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