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Illite in the Oklo Natural Fission Reactors in Gabon: Considerations for Cs Containment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Gyula Szabó
Affiliation:
Frédéric Joliot-Curie National Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, 1221 Budapest, Anna utca 5, H-1775 Budafok 1, P.O. Box 101, Hungary
Judit Guczi
Affiliation:
Frédéric Joliot-Curie National Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, 1221 Budapest, Anna utca 5, H-1775 Budafok 1, P.O. Box 101, Hungary
Bartholomew Nagy
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
Janusz Janeczek
Affiliation:
Uniwersytet Slaski, Wydzial Nauk o Ziemi, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Ul. Bedzinska 60, Poland
Rodney C. Ewing
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
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Abstract

The ∼2 Ga old Oklo, Okelobondo and Bangombé natural reactors in the Republic of Gabon contain solid graphitic bitumens and clay minerals, both of which have effected the containment, or partial containment, of 235U and several fission products. In laboratory experiments, sorption of 134Cs by illite, and illite coated with petroleum was measured in aqueous NaCl solutions to simulate subsurface (connate) waters in sedimentary rocks. Elevated temperatures and increasing salinity of the NaCl solutions facilitated the removal of sorbed cesium from illite.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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