Sorption of radionuclides on mineral surfaces

The sorption of the radioelements uranium, caesium, radium and americium onto rocks and single mineral phases is being investigated in order to improve the understanding of sorption processes. The spatial distribution of uranium onto rock surfaces has been investigated by immersing thin sections of granite and sandstone into 0.8 ppm uranium solutions for periods of up to three months. The sections have been examined by a number of techniques such as RBS, PIXE and dynamic SIMS. In granite thin sections, uranium is preferentially sorbed onto phyllosilicate minerals (10-8 g cm-2). In the sandstone, iron-rich phases dominate sorption. Enhanced levels of uranium sorption (10-7 g cm-2) were observed on surfaces enriched with iron. Even within single mineral phases, inhomogeneities have been detected. Solution chemistry was also an important factor in uranium sorptive behaviour, with sorption from groundwater inhibited by comparison to that on mineralogically similar thin sections immersed in ultra-high purity water. The sorption of caesium from ultra-high purity water and a synthetic groundwater (0.065M NaCl brine) onto quartz, calcite and kaolinite has been studied by the batch sorption technique. Both calcite and quartz are nonsorbing whilst kaolinite is moderately sorbing. RD values from pure water experiments are a factor of 30 higher than those from groundwater, which reflects competition for cation exchange sites on the kaolinite surface between caesium and sodium and potassium in the groundwater. (author)