Dissolution Behaviour of UO2 in Anoxic Conditions: Comparison of Ca-Bentonite and Boom Clay

In order to determine in how far the clay properties influence the dissolution of spent fuel, experiments were carried out with depleted UO2 in the presence of either compacted dry Ca-bentonite with Boom Clay groundwater (KB-BCW) or compacted dry Boom Clay with Boom Clay groundwater (BC-BCW). The leach tests were performed at 25 deg. C in anoxic atmosphere for 2 years. The U concentrations in the clay water were followed during these 2 years, and the amount of U in the clay was determined after 2 years in order to determine the UO2 dissolution rate. The uranium concentration after 0.45 μm filtration was 50 times higher in the Boom Clay with Boom Clay water (2.0 x 10-7 mol.L-1) than in Ca-bentonite with Boom Clay water (6.5 x 10-9 mol.L-1), probably due to colloid formation in the Boom Clay system. Most released uranium was found in the clay. The fraction of uranium, dissolved from the UO2 pellet and found on the clay represents about 42 % of total uranium release in the system BC-BCW and more than 76 % in the system KB-BCW. The higher uranium retention of Boom Clay goes together with a higher dissolution rate. Global dissolution rates were estimated at about 2.0 x 10-2 μg.cm-2.d-1 for the BCBCW system and 3.4 x 10-3 μg.cm-2.d-1 for the KB-BCW system. This is not much lower than for similar tests with spent fuel, reported in literature. (authors)