Investigation of Oxidation State of Elements in Natural Brannerites
EMSL Project ID
2472a
Abstract
Any strategy for disposing nuclear waste in a geologic repository must involve the long-term behavior of the primary containment system, the waste-form itself. One method of confirming the applicability of laboratory experiments on waste-form performance is to examine the behavior of natural analogs for radioactive waste. Natural ancient uranium- , rare earth-, and thorium- bearing minerals can provide confidence in laboratory experimental approaches. An important component of natural analogs is that they have undergone , in some cases, millions of years of radiation induced structural damage. This can result in metamictization, compositional changes, and oxidation state changes. Urnaium in brannerites is expected to be in the (IV) oxidation state; however, one unanswered question is whether the radiation damage has caused any oxidation state changes within the brannerites and, if so, does this correspond to the actinide content or other structural and compositional features
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2005-03-22
End Date
2006-04-13
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator