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Secondary Phase Formation During Nuclear Waste-Glass Dissolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

T. A. Abrajano ,
J. K. Bates ,
A. B. Woodland ,
J. P. Bradley  and
W. L. Bourcier
T. A. Abrajano
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439
J. K. Bates
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439
A. B. Woodland
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439
J. P. Bradley
Affiliation:
McCrone Associates, Inc., 850 Pasquinelli Drive, Westmont, Illinois 60559
W. L. Bourcier
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Yucca Mountain Project, P.O. Box 5514, Livermore, California 94551
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Abstract

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Secondary minerals formed during simulated weathering of nuclear waste glasses have been identified by analytical electron microscopy. A complete description of the reacted glass, from the outermost surface in direct contact with the leachant solution to the reacting front that migrates into the bulk glass, was obtained. Manganese and iron oxyhydroxide phases and saponite were found to have precipitated onto the residual glass surface from the leachant solution. Iron-bearing smectite, serpentine, and manganese and uranium-titanium oxyhydroxides formed in situ in the glass in several distinct bands at different depths beneath the original surface. This sequential development of secondary phases displays a clear trend toward more order and crystallinity in the phases farthest from the reaction front and indicates that complete restructuring of the glass into crystalline phases did not occur at the interface with fresh glass. Additionally, the formation of a discrete uranium-bearing phase, as opposed to uranium uptake by precipitated phases, suggests that stable actinide phase formation rather than ion exchange may be a possible mechanism for retarding radionuclide release to the environment.

Keywords

DissolutionGlassHydrationManganese oxideNuclear wasteSerpentineSmectiteUranium
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 38 , Issue 5 , October 1990 , pp. 537 - 548
Copyright
Copyright © 1990, The Clay Minerals Society

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