Sorption of radionuclides on geologic media - A literature survey. I: Fission Products

The fission products investigated were cobalt, nickel, strontium, cesium, technetium and iodine. Parameters of importance to sorption have been identified and a tabulation of distribution coefficients for groundwater conditions (pH 7-9, low to medium ionic strength) is included in the report. For cobalt and nickel the sorption is related to hydrolysis. High sorption is observed at a pH where hydrolysis become important and the sorption is high as long as cationic hydrolysis products are formed. When pH is increased or negatively charged hydrolysis products may be formed and the sorption decreases. For strontium hydrolysis is of no importance at the normal pH of groundwater, but in groundwater above pH 9 carbonate complexation may occur. For most minerals, the sorption is low, ususally with a pronounced pH dependence. Other important parameters are ionic strength and CEC. A nonselective sorption due to electrostatic interactions between negatively charged mineral surfaces and Sr2+ seems to occur. For cesium no hydrolysis may be expected and pH has less importance than for Sr. For most minerals, however, the sorption of Cs is higher than for Sr. Important parameters are nuclide concentration and ionic strength. A selective for Cs-sorption is found for some minerals, mostly sheet-silicates. For technetium sorption is due to a reduction of TcO4 - TcO2 (s) and as anions are poorly sorbed, the sorption is dependent on the redox potential. Iodine is also anionic and poorly sorbed. Minerals containing ions capable of forming iodides with low solubility (Ag, Mg, Pb etc) are, however, sorbing I-. (Author)