Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-lrf7s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T04:31:17.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diffusion of Plutonium in Compacted, Brine-Saturated Bentonite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

E. J. Nowak
E. J. Nowak*
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 USA
Get access

Abstract

Diffusivities were measured for plutonium in brine-saturated compacted Wyoming bentonite. Complexities of the solution chemistry and retardation of transuranics necessitate diffusion studies under conditions that are specific for repository host rock types in this case salt. Diffusivity values in the range of 10−15 to 10−14 m2/s were obtained for bentonite at a packing density of 1800 kg/m3. That density was obtained by compaction at 15 i0Pa, a typical lithostatic pressure in a repository in salt at 650 m depth. Even a 0.05 m (2 inch) thick bentonite-containing engineered barrier could decrease radionuclide release rates by approximately 4 orders-of-magnitude if the diffusivity for that radionuclide were in the observed range of 10−15 to 10−14 m2/s. These results confirm the effectiveness of uncompacted bentonite-containing materials as engineered barriers for radioactive waste isolation.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 44: Symposium N – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management VIII , 1984 , 351
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Nowak, E. J., Sandia National Laboratories Report SAND79–1109 (1980).Google Scholar
2. Nowak, E. J., in: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management, J.G., Aoore, ed. (Plenum Press, New York, 1981) pp. 545–552.Google Scholar
3. Neretnieks, I., Swedish Nuclear Fuel Safety Project (KBS) Report 30 (1977).Google Scholar
4. Neretnieks, I., Swedish Nuclear Fuel Safety Project (KBS) Report 79 (1978).Google Scholar
5. Nowak, E. J., in: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management. Northrup, C. J. M. Jr., ed. (Plenum Press, New York, 1980). pp. 403–410.Google Scholar
6. Anderson, H. M., Pietz, J., and Smith, D., Sandia National Laboratories Report SAND82–7089 (1983).Google Scholar
7. Pusch, R., Nuclear Technology 45, 153 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Pusch, R., Swedish Nuclear Fuel Safety Project (KBS) Report 33 (1977).Google Scholar
9. Allard, B. and Beall, G. W., in: Proceedings IAEA/CEC Int. Symp. on the Management of Alpha-Contaminated Wastes (IAEA/CEC) Vienna, 1980).Google Scholar
11. Beall, G. W. and Allard, B., Trans. Amer. Nuclear Soc. 32, 164 (1979).Google Scholar
11. Beall, G. W. and Allard, B., Nuclear Technology, 59, 405–91982).Google Scholar
12. Schreiner, F., Fried, S. and Friedman, A. M., Nuclear Technology, 59, 429 (1982).Google Scholar
13. Eriksen, T., Jacobson, A. and Pusch, R., Swedish Nuclear Fuel Safety Project (KBS) Report 81–06 (1981).Google Scholar
14. Torstenfelt, B., Andersson, K., Allard, B. and Oloffson, U., in: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management, Topp, S. V., ed. (North-Holland, New York, 1982)Google Scholar
15. Eriksen, T. E. and Jacobson, A., Swedish Nuclear Fuel Safety Project (KBS) Report 81–12 (1982).Google Scholar
16. Torstenfelt, B., Kipatsi, H., Andersson, K., Allard, B. and Oloffson, U., in: Scientific Basis for Radioactive Waste Management, Werner, Lutze ed., (North-Holland, New York, 1982) pp. 659–668.Google Scholar
17. Nowak, E. J., in: Scientific Basis for Radioactive Waste Management, McVay, G. L. ed., (North-Holland, New York, 1984) pp. 59–68.Google Scholar
18. Nowak, E. J., Sandia National Laboratories Report SAN079–1110 (1980).Google Scholar
19. Molecke, M. A., Sandia National Laboratories Report SAND83–0516 (1983). 358Google Scholar
21. Torstenfelt, B., Kipatsi, H., Andersson, K., Allard, B. and Oloffson, U., in: Scientific Basis for Radioactive Waste Management, Werner, Lutze ed., (North-Holland, New York, 1982) pp. 659–668.Google Scholar
21. Crank, J., The Mathematics of Diffusion (Oxford Press, London, 1956) pp. 9–11.Google Scholar
22. Crank, J., The Mathematics of Diffusion (Oxford Press, London, 1956) pp.45–49.Google Scholar
23. Li, Y. H. and Gregory, S., Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 38 703 (1974).Google Scholar