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Maintaining Chemically Reducing Waste-Package Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Charles W. Forsberg  and
Leslie R. Dole
Charles W. Forsberg
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, TN 37831, U.S.A.
Leslie R. Dole
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, TN 37831, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Most fission products and actinides in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) are trapped in the uranium dioxide (UO2) crystal structure and cannot escape until the UO2 is oxidized. Oxidation destroys the crystal structure, exposes the radionuclides to groundwater, and creates the potential for dissolution. For a repository in an oxidizing geochemical environment, the potential exists to delay the release of radionuclides for hundreds of thousands to millions of years by using a combination of excess depleted uranium dioxide and iron in the waste package (WP) to locally maintain chemically reducing conditions. This approach limits the rate of oxygen transport to the SNF after WP failure. Alternative methods of oxygen transport to the SNF were investigated, including transport by groundwater, diffusion through air, and diffusion through water.

Type
articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 757: Symposium II – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXVI , 2002 , II8.6
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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References

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