The solubility of nickel and its migration through the cementitious backfill of a geological disposal facility for nuclear waste

Felipe-Sotelo, M.; Hinchliff, J.; Field, Lorraine; Milodowski, A. E.; Holt, Jonathan; Taylor, Stuart C.; Read, David

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.04.057

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…After 60 Co has decayed, activities of long-lived 59 Ni, 63 Ni, 14 C, 94 Nb, and 93 Mo will remain sufficiently high to warrant the geologic disposal of activated LWR components ( Table 2 ) ( 77 ). Nickel isotopes are soluble under acidic conditions ( 78 ), so cementitious barrier materials are employed in LILW repositories to impose alkaline conditions ( 79 ) that limit nickel dissolution in the repository groundwater ( 80 ). More mobile than nickel, models suggest that 14 C and 93 Mo will be the dominant contributors to future doses from a repository for activated decommissioning waste ( 81 ).…”

Section: Management and Disposal Of Smr Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear waste from small modular reactors

Krall

Macfarlane

Ewing

2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Small modular reactors (SMRs; i.e., nuclear reactors that produce <300 MW elec each) have garnered attention because of claims of inherent safety features and reduced cost. However, remarkably few studies have analyzed the management and disposal of their nuclear waste streams. Here, we compare three distinct SMR designs to an 1,100-MW elec pressurized water reactor in terms of the energy-equivalent volume, (radio-)chemistry, decay heat, and fissile isotope composition of (notional) high-, intermediate-, and low-level waste streams. Results reveal that water-, molten salt–, and sodium-cooled SMR designs will increase the volume of nuclear waste in need of management and disposal by factors of 2 to 30. The excess waste volume is attributed to the use of neutron reflectors and/or of chemically reactive fuels and coolants in SMR designs. That said, volume is not the most important evaluation metric; rather, geologic repository performance is driven by the decay heat power and the (radio-)chemistry of spent nuclear fuel, for which SMRs provide no benefit. SMRs will not reduce the generation of geochemically mobile 129 I, 99 Tc, and 79 Se fission products, which are important dose contributors for most repository designs. In addition, SMR spent fuel will contain relatively high concentrations of fissile nuclides, which will demand novel approaches to evaluating criticality during storage and disposal. Since waste stream properties are influenced by neutron leakage, a basic physical process that is enhanced in small reactor cores, SMRs will exacerbate the challenges of nuclear waste management and disposal.

show abstract

Section: Management and Disposal Of Smr Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear waste from small modular reactors

Krall

Macfarlane

Ewing

2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[5][6][7][8][9] Candidate organic ligands from decommissioning activities (citrate, oxalate, nitrilotriacetic acid [NTA] and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid [EDTA]) can affect metal solubility even at alkaline pH, through the formation of metal-ligand complexes. [10][11][12][13] In particular, citrate may be present within typical LLW in signicant quantities from nuclear decontamination operations. [14][15][16] Citric acid (2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid, C 6 H 8 O 7 ) is a naturally ubiquitous and widely utilised molecule.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anaerobic biodegradation of citric acid in the presence of Ni and U at alkaline pH; impact on metal fate and speciation

Byrd

Lloyd

Townsend

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci.: Adv.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yilmaz et al [15,16] studied the effect of acid hydration on the solidification and strength of backfill. Felipe-Sotelo et al [17] explored the mechanical properties of cement fillings under alkaline conditions through experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study on the Creep Characteristics of Cemented Backfill in a Goaf under Water Pressure

Zhang

Deng

Duan

et al. 2020

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As the groundwater environment changes in a goaf, the creep deformation of the backfill underwater pressure is worthy of attention. This paper takes the undercut goaf filling in the Yuzhou section of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project as an example. Grading loading creep testing of the backfill under different water pressures was carried out using equipment developed by our research team. Based on the experimental results, the following key points were observed: (1) under the same axial stress, the creep strain and steady creep rate increase with increasing water pressure. Under the same water pressure, the creep strain and steady creep rate also increase with increasing axial stress. (2) The long-term strength of a backfill sample decreases with increasing water pressure and has a nonlinear relationship with water pressure. (3) The increase in water pressure exacerbates the damage of a backfill sample, which is manifested by the secondary crack propagation at the time of failure. Therefore, the increase in water pressure degrades the mechanical properties of the backfill to some extent. The results of this paper provide a reliable theoretical basis for the long-term stability analysis of goaf filling underwater pressure.

show abstract

The solubility of nickel and its migration through the cementitious backfill of a geological disposal facility for nuclear waste

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

Nuclear waste from small modular reactors

Nuclear waste from small modular reactors

Anaerobic biodegradation of citric acid in the presence of Ni and U at alkaline pH; impact on metal fate and speciation

Experimental Study on the Creep Characteristics of Cemented Backfill in a Goaf under Water Pressure

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About