Uranium transport in Topopah Spring tuff: An ion-microscope investigation

We investigated the effect of different methods of surface preparation on ion-microscope profiles of uranium concentration (added to the sample by diffusion from an aqueous solution) vs depth in a welded, devitrified, tuffaceous rock from Yucca Mountain. The concentration profiles were used to study transport of uranium in the tuff. Four wafers of rock were prepared from primary drill core material and finished by polishing with increasingly finer abrasive material. Final polishes were made with 400 grit SiC, 600 grit SiC, 0.3 um alumina, and 0.05 um alumina. The polished tuff wafers were exposed for eight hours to a solution of groundwater doped with 2 ppM 235-U. The wafers were then examined by SEM and the ion microscope was used to measure the lateral and depth distributions of 235-U and other isotopes in the wafer. No systematic correlation of the measured 235-U concentration- vs-depth profiles with the degree of surface finish was observed, indicating that the polishing does not affect the measurable transport of U in the tuff. A zone of enhanced 235-U concentration was observed in the upper few microns, which we attribute to sorption onto surfaces of exposed pores. Concentrations of 235-U were elevated above background to depths >15 um, indicating that rapid transport paths exist. When the uranium distribution near the surface of the wafer was modelled by an error function, an upper limit for a slower transport path was defined by an apparent diffusion coefficient of approximately 10/sup /minus/13/ cm2/s. 5 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab