Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Sorption of U(VI) on MX-80 bentonite, illite, shale and limestone in Na-Ca-Cl saline solutions

  • Received : 2024.01.31
  • Accepted : 2024.06.20
  • Published : 2024.11.25
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Abstract

Uranium (U) has been identified as an element of interest for the safety assessment of a deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel. In this study, the sorption of U(VI) was studied in Na-Ca-Cl solutions at ionic strengths = 0.1-6 mol/kgw (m) in a CO2 free environment at pHm (molal H+ concentration where pHm = - log mH+) = 4-9 for MX-80 bentonite, illite and Queenston shale and at pHm = 5-9 for limestone. U(VI) sorption on MX-80 bentonite increased with pHm from pHm = 4 to 6, then decreased with pHm until pHm = 7, and then increased again with pHm to pHm = 9. U(VI) sorption on illite increased with pHm reaching a maximum at pHm = 7, and then decreased with further increases in pHm. The sorption behavior of U(VI) on shale was similar to that of illite, but the extent of decrease in the sorption coefficient (Rd) value with pHm was slightly more pronounced for the shale than observed for sorption on illite at pHm > 7. U(VI) sorption on limestone increased with pHm up to pHm = 8 and then seemed to be constant at pHm = 8-9. U(VI) sorption on all four solids was independent of ionic strength (0.1-6.0 m). The 2 site protolysis non-electrostatic surface complexation and cation exchange model successfully simulated the sorption of U(VI) onto MX-80 and illite, and the optimized values of surface complexation constants were estimated.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was funded by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Canada.

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