Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Burns, P. C. Articles by Klingensmith, A. L. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Uranium Mineralogy and Neptunium Mobility

Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
E-mail: pburns{at}nd.edu

Amanda L. Klingensmith

Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

Spent nuclear fuel, mainly UO₂, is chemically unstable under oxidizing conditions. Alteration occurs by oxidation and hydration and can be rapid and substantial. Uranyl minerals, containing U⁶⁺, form when commercial spent fuel is altered in a moist, oxidizing environment. During the alteration and dissolution of the UO₂, fission-product radionuclides and transuranium elements are released. Uranyl minerals that form locally as alteration products in a geologic repository may incorporate many of these radionuclides, thereby immobilizing them for lengthy periods and thus improving the long-term performance of the repository. Here we discuss one very important radionuclide, ²³⁷Np (half-life = 2.14 million years), and focus on mineralogical studies that probe the potential impact of uranyl minerals on neptunium mobility.

KEYWORDS: uranyl minerals, spent fuel, actinides, geologic repository, neptunium, UO₂

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. J. Mills, W. D. Birch, U. Kolitsch, W. G. Mumme, and I. E. Grey Lakebogaite, CaNaFe23+H(UO2)2(PO4)4(OH)2(H2O)8, a new uranyl phosphate with a unique crystal structure from Victoria, Australia American Mineralogist, April 1, 2008; 93(4): 691 - 697. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. L. Klingensmith and P. C. Burns Neptunium substitution in synthetic uranophane and soddyite American Mineralogist, November 1, 2007; 92(11-12): 1946 - 1951. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Bruno and R. C. Ewing Spent Nuclear Fuel Elements, December 1, 2006; 2(6): 343 - 349. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]