• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 1995

In Dongnam area, Cretaceous igneous rocks, such as diorite, porphyritic granite, and quartz porphyry intruded Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, such as Myobong slate and Pungchon limestone. The Dongnam Fe-Mo skarn deposits were imposed on the diorite(endoskarn) and the Myobong slate(exoskarn). The ore deposits consist mainly of magnetite and molybdenite with small amounts of sulfides, such as galena, sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. The igneous rocks show nearly constant $^{206}Pb/^{204}Pb(18.80{\sim}19.06)$ and $^{207}Pb/^{204}Pb(15.71{\sim}15.72)$ ratios. Their $^{207}Pb/^{204}Pb$ ratios higher than the typical ratios of orogene suggest that the igeneous rocks were formed from lower crust(or mantle) - derived magma excessively contaminated by upper crustal materials such as high radiogenic Precambrian basement rocks. The lead isotopic compositions of the igneous rocks, the Pungchon limestone, and the ore minerals show a well defined linear in $^{206}Pb/^{204}Pb$ - $^{207}Pb/^{204}Pb$ plot. The lead isotopic compositions of the igneous rocks are similar to those of magnetite and galena, which were formed at early skarn stage and significantly lower than those of altered quartz porphyry, molybdenites, and pyrite, which were formed at late epithermal alteration stage. Considering the systematic variation of the lead isotopic compositions in the ore minerals according to hydrothermal stages, the variation may be due to a relative variation in surrounding rock(Pungchon limestone) involvement in hydrothermal ore solution leaching the surrounding rock. Therefore, the variation of the lead isotopic compositions in ore minerals can be modeled in terms of the mixing of the leads derived from the igneous rocks as low radiogenic source and the surrounding rock(Pungchon limestone) as high radiogenic source.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2012

A molten salt technology using $Li_2O$-LiCl has been extensively investigated to recover uranium metal from spent fuels in the field of nuclear energy. In the reduction process, it is an important point to maintain the concentration of $Li_2O$. $ZrO_2$ is inevitably contained in the spent fuels because Zr is one of the main components of fuel rod hulls. Therefore, the fate of $ZrO_2$ in $Li_2O$-LiCl molten salt has been investigated. It was found that $Li_2ZrO_3$ and $Li_4ZrO_4$ were formed chemically and electrochemically and they were not reduced to Zr. The recycling of $Li_2O$ is the key mechanism ruling the total reaction in the electrolytic reduction process. However, $ZrO_2$ will have a role as a $Li_2O$ sink.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.155-162
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• 2012

We observed characteristic oxidation and dissolution phenomena induced by dissolved oxygen for mackinawite that is produced via sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) living in anaerobic environments such as soils and groundwater. We tried to recognize the role of the sulfide minerals that usually coexist with some stabilized radionuclides (e.g., reduced uranium), which can be reoxidized and redissolved by an oxygen-rich groundwater invaded into a contaminated area. The mackinawite produced by 'Desulfovibrio desulfuricans', a sulfate-reducing bacterium, was conducted to be dissolved for 2 weeks by some oxidants such as 'hydrogen peroxide' and 'sodium nitrite'. Although mineralogical oxidation and dissolution characteristics were different from each other according to the oxidants, the initially oxidized solution was early stabilized through the oxygen consumption by ${\mu}m$-sized sulfide particles and the resultant increase of sulfate in solution. From these results, we can anticipate that the large amount of sulfide minerals generated by SRB can not only repress the anoxic environment to be disturbed by the consumption of oxygen in groundwater, but also contribute to stabilize the reduced/precipitated radionuclides as a buffer material for a long time.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.279-286
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• 1983

An apparatus was made for the electrodeposition of alpha emitting actinide nuclides, $^{207}Bi$ and $^{210}Po$. The electrodeposition was made on a polished stainless steel plate cathode. The anode was made of platinum wire and to stir the solution. With the ammonium chloride as electrolyte initial pH = 4, chloride concentration = 0.6M and solution volume = 15ml, a current of 1.5 ampere(current density = 0.59A/$cm^2$) was flowed for 100 minutes for the quantitative recovery of electrodeposition and on average recovery of 98.3% was obtained within ${\pm}$0.7% uncertainty. Alpha spectrometry of the electrodeposited sample showed alpha peaks from $^{210}Po, ^{234}U$ and $^{239}Pu$ having energy resolution (FWHM) of 18.3, 21.8 and 36.0 keV respectively. The electrodeposition and alpha spectrometry for a natural uranium sample of domestic origin gave $^{238}U : ^{234}U = 1 : 6.1{\times}10^{-5}$ and for a neutron-irradiated uranium sample did $^{238}U : ^{239}Pu : ^{241}Am = 100 : 0.0263 : 5.20{times}10^{-5}$. The result of $^{238}U$ determination in the irradiated sample by electrodeposition-alpha spectrometry was in accord within ${\pm}1.6%$ of relative error with the results of solid fluorimetry and mass spectrometry. For $^{239}Pu$ the result of electrodeposition-alpha spectrometry was in accord within ${\pm}$4.0% of relative error with the results of anion exchange separation and the thenoyltrifluoroacetone(TTA) extraction both followed by alpha spectrometries.