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Retention of chlorine-36 by a cementitious backfill

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

E. van Es ,
J. Hinchliff ,
M. Felipe-Sotelo ,
A.E. Milodowski ,
L.P. Field ,
N.D.M. Evans  and
D. Read
E. van Es
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK
J. Hinchliff
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK
M. Felipe-Sotelo*
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK
A.E. Milodowski
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
L.P. Field
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
N.D.M. Evans
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK
D. Read
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Radial diffusion experiments have been carried out to assess the migration of 36Cl, as chloride, through a cementitious backfill material. Further experiments in the presence of cellulose degradation products were performed to assess the effect of organic ligands on the extent and rate of chloride diffusion. Results show that breakthrough of 36Cl is dependent on chloride concentration: as the carrier concentration increases, both breakthrough time and the quantity retained by the cement matrix decreases. Experiments in the presence of cellulose degradation products also show a decrease in time to initial breakthrough. However, uptake at various carrier concentrations in the presence of organic ligands converges at 45% of the initial concentration as equilibrium is reached. The results are consistent with organic ligands blocking sites on the cement that would otherwise be available for chloride binding, though further work is required to confirm that this is the case. Post-experimental digital autoradiographs of the cement cylinders, and elemental mapping showed evidence of increased 36Cl activity associated with black ash-like particles in the matrix, believed to correspond to partially hydrated glassy calcium-silicate-sulfate-rich clinker.

Keywords

36Cldiffusionradioactive wastecellulose degradation productsNirex Reference Vault Backfill
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 79 , Issue 6 , November 2015 , pp. 1297 - 1305
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2015. This is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2015

Footnotes

†

Present address: National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0LW, UK

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