Assessment of Redox Conditions in the Near Field of Nuclear Waste Repositories: Application to the Swiss high-level and intermediate level waste disposal concept

Wersin, Paul; Johnson, Lawrence H.; Schwyn, Bernhard (2003). Assessment of Redox Conditions in the Near Field of Nuclear Waste Repositories: Application to the Swiss high-level and intermediate level waste disposal concept. MRS Proceedings, 807, p. 539. Materials Research Society 10.1557/PROC-807-539

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Redox conditions were assessed for a spent fuel and high-level waste (SF/HLW) and an intermediate-level waste (ILW) repository. For both cases our analysis indicates permanently reducing conditions after a relatively short oxic period. The canister-bentonite near field in the HLW case displays a high redox buffering capacity because of expected high activity of dissolved and surface-bound Fe(II). This is contrary to the cementitious near field in the ILW case where concentrations of dissolved reduced species are low and redox reactions occur primarily via solid phase transformation processes.

For the bentonite-canister near field, redox potentials of about -100 to -300 mV (SHE) are estimated, which is supported by recent kinetic data on U, Tc and Se interaction with reduced iron systems. For the cementitious near field, redox potentials of about -200 to -800 mV are estimated, which reflects the large uncertainties related to this alkaline environment.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geological Sciences 08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geological Sciences > Applied Rock-Water-Interaction
UniBE Contributor:	Wersin, Paul
Subjects:	500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology
ISSN:	1946-4274
Publisher:	Materials Research Society
Language:	English
Submitter:	Anja Ebeling
Date Deposited:	28 Sep 2016 15:16
Last Modified:	11 Apr 2024 16:11
Publisher DOI:	10.1557/PROC-807-539
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/89019