Development of permeable reactive barriers to prevent radionuclide migration from the nuclear waste repositories

This paper is focused on three possible materials for permeable reactive barriers (PRB): 1) depleted uranium oxide that is accumulated as a residual product of the natural uranium enrichment process, 2) zero-valent iron and, 3) the composite material based on montmorillonite clay modified with different anion exchangers. The main aim of permeable reactive barriers is to prevent release of radionuclides emerging from a repository waste package containing spent nuclear fuel to outside the control area of the nuclear waste repository sites. The most experimentally developed material is depleted uranium oxide. It can be used both as a component of radiation shielding and as an absorbent for migrating long-lived radionuclides (especially 237Np and 99Tc). Experiments demonstrate the high sorption properties of depleted uranium oxide towards Np and Tc both from deionized water and from solution that simulates Yucca Mountain. Zero-valent iron, and the composite based on montmorillonite clay, also seem to be very promising to use in a PRB. Nano-particles of zero-valent iron with high surface will reduce high valency Np and Tc to the tetravalent state and thus immobilize them due to the extremely low solubility of corresponding hydroxides. The composite based on montmorillonite clay modified with different anion exchangers will possess high sorption affinity towards anionic and cationic species. (authors)