Sorption of Carbon, Cobalt, Nickel, Strontium, Iodine, Cesium, Americium and Neptumium in Rocks and Minerals

摘要

Sorption of the radionuclides C-14, Co-58, Ni-63, I-125, Sr-85, Cs-134, Am-241 and Np-237, which are important in nuclear waste, were studied in rock by autoradiographic method. Samples were selected to represent common rocks and minerals in Finnish bedrock: rapakivi granite, tonalite, mica gneiss, granodiorite, biotite, quartz, plagioclase, K feldspar and hornblende. Polished thin sections were used to determine the contributions of different minerals to the sorption of the radionuclides. Sawn rock pieces (1.2 x 1.2 x 1.6 cm) were used to determine the Ksub(a)-values for rough rock surfaces where penetration into the rock matrix was found. The sorption order of the elements determined with the rock pieces was Ksub(a)sup(Cs)>Ksub(a)sup(Ni) >Ksub(a)sup(Co)>Ksub(a)sup(Sr)>Ksub(a)sup(C)>Ksub(a)sup(I). The same order of sorption was determined with thin sections for all nuclides except carbon, which was not sorbed on thin sections. Wide differences in the Ksub(a)-values for different minerals were found for Cs and Sr. The sorption mechanism for these elements is presumed to be ion exchange. The Ksub(a)-values of Cs varied between 0.1 x 10 sup 4 and 600 x 10 sup 4 m sup 3 /m sup 2 and those for Sr between 0.01 x 10 sup 4 and 10 x 10 sup 4 m sup 3 /m sup 2 . The lowest values were determined for quartz and the highest for biotite. Radionuclides having a tendency to form pseudocolloids and hydroxide precipitates (Am, Np, Ni) were sorbed on thin sections with only small variation in Ksub(a)-values: all values were between 1 x 10 sup 4 and 10 x 10 sup 4 and 100 x 10 sup 4 m sup 3 /m sup 2 . A very good agreement was found between experimental and calculated Ksub(a)-values for rock thin sections. Ksub(a)-values were calculated by multiplying the percentages of individual minerals in the rock by the Ksub(a)-values of the corresponding pure minerals and summing the results. (Atomindex citation 17:009118)