Equilibrium and Kinetic Controls on the Subsurface Migration of Radioactive Contaminants

GEOLOGICAL DISPOSAL OF NUCLEAR WASTES PORTENDS TO BE THE MAJOR SOURCE OF HUMAN EXPOSURE TO RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINANTS IN THE FUTURE. LEACHING FROM THESE DISPOSAL SITES MAY RESULT IN THE ENTRY OF RADIONUCLIDES INTO NATURAL AQUATIC SYSTEMS. DESPITE NUMEROUS INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL OCCURRENCE OF RADIONUCLIDES, THEIR REACTIONS WITH THE GROUNDWATER COMPONENTS AND THE MEDIA THROUGH WHICH THEY TRAVEL REMAIN FAR LESS KNOWN. INTEGRATED EXPERIMENTS WERE DESIGNED IN ORDER TO ADEQUATELY DESCRIBE THE MIGRATION MECHANISMS OF AMERICIUM, NEPTUNIUM, PLUTONIUM AND TECHNETIUM IN NATURAL SYSTEMS. THE METHODOLOGY USED INCLUDES MANY INDEPENDENT TESTS USING SITE-SPECIFIC POROUS MATERIALS TAKEN AT VARIOUS POTENTIAL DISPOSAL SITES. DIFFERENCES IN THE OBSERVED PATTERNS ARE DISCUSSED AND INTERPRETED IN TERMS OF A DIFFERENT CHEMICAL SPECIATION OF RADIONUCLIDES AND REDOX CONDITIONS. THE PURPOSE OF THESE STUDIES IS TO PROVIDE A DATA BASE THAT, USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH TRANSPORT MODELS, WILL YIELD PREDICTIONS OF LONG- TERM BEHAVIOUR OF RADIONUCLIDES.

BIDOGLIO Giovanni;  AVOGADRO Alessandro; 

1995-03-15

JRC4868

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC4868,