Plutonium mobility and reactivity in a heterogeneous clay rock barrier accented by synchrotron-based microscopic chemical imaging.

ABSTRACT: The long-term safe disposal of radioactive waste corresponds to a challenging responsibility of present societies. Within deep geological waste disposal concepts, host rocks correspond to the ultimate safety barrier towards the environment. To assess the performance of such barriers over extended time scales, mechanistic information on the interaction between the radiotoxic, long-lived radionuclides like plutonium and the host rock is essential. Chemical imaging based on synchrotron microspectroscopic techniques was used to visualize undisturbed reactive transport patterns of Pu within pristine Opalinus Clay rock material. Pu^+V is shown to be progressively reduced along its diffusion path to Pu^+IV and Pu^+III due to interaction with redox-active clay rock co

SUBMITTER: Kaplan U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10847135 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature