Impact of Highly Basic Solutions on Sorption of Cs+ to Subsurface Sediments from the Hanford Site, USA

The effect of caustic NaNO3 solutions on the sorption of 137Cs to the Hanford site micaceous subsurface sediment was investigated as a function of time, temperature (10 C or 50 C), and NaOH concentration. At 100C and 0.1 M NaOH, the slow evolution of [Al]aq was in stack contrast to the rapid increase and subsequent loss of [Al]aq observed at 50 C (regardless of base concentration). At 50 C, dissolution of phyllosilicate minerals increased with [OH], at 1 and 3 M NaOH solutions, almost complete dissolution of clay-sized phyllosilicates occurred. At 0.1 M NaOH, a zeolite (tetranatrolite) precipitated after about 7 days, while an unnamed mineral phase (Na2Al2Si3O10-2H2O) precipitated after 4 and 2 days of exposure to 1 M and 3 M NaOH solutions. At 100C there was no conclusive evidence of secondary mineral precipitation. The effect of base dissolution on Cs+ sorption by the Hanford sediment was investigated via (1) Cs+ sorption over a large concentration range (10-9 - 10-2 mol/L) to sediment after exposure to 0.1 M NaOH for 56, 112, and 168 days, (2) Cs+ sorption to sediment in the presence of NaOH (0.1 M, 1 M, and 3 M NaOH) at Cs+ concentrations selected to probe high affinity, transition, and low affinity cation exchange sites, and (3) the application of a two-site numeric ion exchange model (Zachara et al. 2002a). No effect on Cs+ sorption to the Hanford sediment was observed during the 168 days sediment was exposed to 0.1 M NaOH, at 10 C; Cs+ sorption in the presence of base was well described by the ion exchange model when enthalpy effects were considered. In contrast, at 50 C, there was a trend toward slightly lower (log ∼ 0.25) conditional equilibrium exchange constants over the entire range of surface coverage, and a slight loss of high affinity sites (15%) after 168 days of exposure to 0.1 M base solution. However, model simulations of Cs+ sorption to the sediment in the presence of 0.1 M base for 112 days were good at the lower Cs+ surface densities. At the higher surface densities, model simulations under predicted sorption by 57%. This under prediction was surmised to be the result of tetranatrolite precipitation, and subsequent slow Na - Cs exchange. At higher OH concentrations, Cs+ sorption in the presence of base for 112 days was unexpectedly equal to, or slightly greater than that expected for a pristine sediment. The presence of neoforms, coupled with the fairly unique mica distribution and quantity across all size-fractions in the Hanford sediment, appears to mitigate the impact of base dissolution on Cs+ sorption