APPLICATION OF RADIOCHEMICAL, ACCELERATOR-BASED AND SURFACE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES TO THE INVESTIGATION OF THE U- AND Th-INTERACTION WITH TECTOSILICATE MINERALS

摘要

The environmental geochemistry of the actinides is a subject of increasing importance, because of their involvement in various geochemical and biogeochemical cycles. The presence of uranium and thorium in the environment is not only related to natural but also to anthropogenic sources (e.g. nuclear power production, phosphate fertilizers, coal burning, ore processing). The transport of these elements in the environment mainly takes place through aquatic pathways existing in the geosphere but their mobility and accumulation in natural systems strongly depends on their interaction with geological materials and on immobilization processes such as sorption to rocks, minerals and suspended solid particles [1, 2, 3].