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Effects of Recrystallization on Time Variant Sorption of Radionuclides onto Steel Corrosion Products

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Robert W. Smith ,
John C. Walton  and
Masudur Rahman
Robert W. Smith
Affiliation:
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, P. O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2110Department of Civil Engineering, University Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968-0516.
Masudur Rahman
Affiliation:
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, P. O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2110Department of Civil Engineering, University Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968-0516.
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Abstract

Corrosion products resulting from the oxidation of steel containers and iron-containing waste can alter the local geochemical environment in radioactive waste disposal vaults and trenches. In addition, corrosion products can enhance the retention of radionuclides by providing a highly sorptive media. Initial hydrous corrosion products are poorly crystalline with large surface area, high sorption capacity, and large Kds. Over time, corrosion products recrystallize by step-wise dehydration to phases with significantly smaller surface areas. The decreased surface area results in decreased sorption and the potential for remobilization of previously sorbed radionuclides. The impact of time-dependent variation in sorption on radionuclide transport is a complex function of the rate of recrystallization and the radionuclide half-life.

A mathematical model has been developed, which coupling mass transport with corrosion product recrystallization and equilibrium sorption of radionuclides. The model is applied release of radionuclides with a range of half-lives (year to 100,000s of years) from radioactive waste disposal facilities to illustrate the significance of corrosion product recrystallization on release.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 333: Symposium V – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XVII , 1993 , 713
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

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