The Geochemistry of Natural Technetium and Plutonium

Abstract

Technetium and plutonium in unprocessed nuclear reactor wastes are major concerns with regard to their containment in the geologic environment. Both nuclides have long half-lives; therefore, they will exist long after engineered barriers can be considered reliable. Consequently, strategies for the containment of these two elements depend on their retention in the geologic barrier until they have decayed to innocuous levels. Because these are the rarest elements in nature, there have been few direct observations of their geochemical behavior; predictions con- cerning their fate in the repository are based on properties that can be observed in the laboratory. We are attempting to complement the laboratory work by studying the geochemistry of natural plutonium and technetium.