Direct Investigations of the Immobilization of Radionuclides in the Alteration Phases of Spent Nuclear Fuel.

Burns, P. C. ; Finch, R. J.

Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee

关键词: Spent fuels;    Actinides;    Containers;    Chemistry;    Crystal structure;   

RP-ID  :  DE2004828409

学科分类：工程和技术（综合）

美国|英语

来源: National Technical Reports Library

【 摘 要 】

The safe disposal of the nation's nuclear waste in a geologic repository is one of the most significant and difficult scientific endeavors of the twenty-first century. Unique scientific challenges are posed by the very long-lived radioactivity of nuclear waste. Many radionuclides of vastly different chemical character must be retained by the repository for several thousand years. Some with longer half-lives, such as Pu-239 and Tc-99, need to be isolated for periods approaching a million years. In order to ensure the safety of a geologic repository, a detailed understanding of the mobility of radionuclides in complex natural systems is essential. Most of the radioactivity in a geological repository will be associated with spent nuclear fuel. In the United States spent fuel is derived from several sources. The majority is UO2 (LWR) spent fuel from commercial reactors. About 30,000 metric tons of spent fuel was in storage at commercial reactors by 1995, with the expectation that this quantity will more than double by 2010.