Uranium(VI) diffusion in low-permeability subsurface materials
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Chongxuan Liu
Abstract
Uranium(VI) diffusion was investigated in a fine-grained saprolite sediment that was collected from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge site, TN, where uranium contamination in groundwater is a major environmental concern. U(VI) diffusion was studied in a diffusion cell with one cell end in contact with a large, air-equilibrated electrolyte reservoir. The pH, carbonate and U(VI) concentrations in the reservoir solution were varied to investigate the effect of solution chemical composition and uranyl speciation on U(VI) diffusion. The rates of U(VI) diffusion were evaluated by monitoring the U(VI) concentration in the reservoir solution as a function of time; and by measuring the total concentration of U(VI) extracted from the sediment as a function of time and distance in the diffusion cells. The estimated apparent rate of U(VI) diffusion varied significantly with pH, with the slowest rate observed at pH 7 as a result of strong adsorptive retardation. The estimated retardation factor was generally consistent with a surface complexation model. Numerical simulations indicated that a species-based diffusion model that incorporated both aqueous and surface complexation reactions was required to describe U(VI) diffusion in the low permeability material under variable geochemical conditions. Our results implied that low permeability materials will play an important role in storing U(VI) and attenuating U(VI) plume migration at circumneutral pH conditions, and will serve as a long-term source for releasing U(VI) back to the nearby aquifer during and after aquifer decontamination.
© by Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Richland, Germany
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
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- Solubility of triuranyl diphosphate tetrahydrate (TDT) and Na autunite at 23 and 50 °C
- Effect of reduction on the stability of Pu(VI) hydrolysis species
- Retention and redox behaviour of uranium(VI) by siderite (FeCO3)
- Neptunium(V) complexation by natural pyoverdins and related model compounds
- Complexation of Nd(III) with tetraborate ion and its effect on actinide(III) solubility in WIPP brine
- Complexation of Tc(IV) with acetate at varying ionic strengths
- Uranyl photochemistry: decarboxylation of gluconic acid
- Influence of Boom Clay organic matter on the adsorption of Eu3+ by illite – geochemical modelling using the component additivity approach
- The role of green rust in the migration of radionuclides: An overview of processes that can control mobility of radioactive elements in the environment using as examples Np, Se and Cr
- A comparative batch sorption and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy study on the sorption of Eu(III) and Cm(III) on synthetic and natural kaolinite
- U(VI) sorption on granite: prediction and experiments
- Quantum chemical study of inner-sphere complexes of trivalent lanthanide and actinide ions on the corundum (0001) surface
- Quantum chemical modeling of uranyl adsorption on mineral surfaces
- Interaction of PuO2 thin films with water
- Molecular interactions of plutonium(VI) with synthetic manganese-substituted goethite
- Chlorine speciation in nuclear graphite: consequences on temperature release and on leaching
- Chemical status of U(VI) in cemented waste forms under saline conditions
- Influence of iron redox transformations on plutonium sorption to sediments
- Modelling of a large-scale in-situ migration experiment with 14C-labelled natural organic matter in Boom Clay
- Sorption and diffusion of Eu in sedimentary rock in the presence of humic substance
- Diffusion and sorption of neptunium(V) in compacted montmorillonite: effects of carbonate and salinity
- Uranium(VI) diffusion in low-permeability subsurface materials
- Distribution of Cs and Am in the solution-bentonite colloids-granite ternary system: effect of addition order and sorption reversibility
- Mechanisms of plutonium sorption to mineral oxide surfaces: new insights with implications for colloid-enhanced migration
- Understanding uranium behaviour at the Askola uranium mineralization
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- Solubility of tetravalent actinides in alkaline CaCl2 solutions and formation of Ca4[An(OH)8]4+ complexes: A study of Np(IV) and Pu(IV) under reducing conditions and the systematic trend in the An(IV) series
- Solubility of triuranyl diphosphate tetrahydrate (TDT) and Na autunite at 23 and 50 °C
- Effect of reduction on the stability of Pu(VI) hydrolysis species
- Retention and redox behaviour of uranium(VI) by siderite (FeCO3)
- Neptunium(V) complexation by natural pyoverdins and related model compounds
- Complexation of Nd(III) with tetraborate ion and its effect on actinide(III) solubility in WIPP brine
- Complexation of Tc(IV) with acetate at varying ionic strengths
- Uranyl photochemistry: decarboxylation of gluconic acid
- Influence of Boom Clay organic matter on the adsorption of Eu3+ by illite – geochemical modelling using the component additivity approach
- The role of green rust in the migration of radionuclides: An overview of processes that can control mobility of radioactive elements in the environment using as examples Np, Se and Cr
- A comparative batch sorption and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy study on the sorption of Eu(III) and Cm(III) on synthetic and natural kaolinite
- U(VI) sorption on granite: prediction and experiments
- Quantum chemical study of inner-sphere complexes of trivalent lanthanide and actinide ions on the corundum (0001) surface
- Quantum chemical modeling of uranyl adsorption on mineral surfaces
- Interaction of PuO2 thin films with water
- Molecular interactions of plutonium(VI) with synthetic manganese-substituted goethite
- Chlorine speciation in nuclear graphite: consequences on temperature release and on leaching
- Chemical status of U(VI) in cemented waste forms under saline conditions
- Influence of iron redox transformations on plutonium sorption to sediments
- Modelling of a large-scale in-situ migration experiment with 14C-labelled natural organic matter in Boom Clay
- Sorption and diffusion of Eu in sedimentary rock in the presence of humic substance
- Diffusion and sorption of neptunium(V) in compacted montmorillonite: effects of carbonate and salinity
- Uranium(VI) diffusion in low-permeability subsurface materials
- Distribution of Cs and Am in the solution-bentonite colloids-granite ternary system: effect of addition order and sorption reversibility
- Mechanisms of plutonium sorption to mineral oxide surfaces: new insights with implications for colloid-enhanced migration
- Understanding uranium behaviour at the Askola uranium mineralization
