Controls on soluble Pu concentrations in PuO2/magnetite suspensions

Andrew R. Felmy, Dean A. Moore, Carolyn I. Pearce, Steven D. Conradson, Odeta Qafoku, Edgar C. Buck, Kevin M. Rosso, Eugene S. Ilton

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Abstract

Time-dependent reduction of PuO2(am) was studied over a range of pH values in the presence of aqueous Fe(II) and magnetite (Fe3O 4) nanoparticles. At early time frames (up to 56 days) very little aqueous Pu was mobilized from PuO2(am), even though measured pH and redox potentials, coupled to equilibrium thermodynamic modeling, indicated the potential for significant reduction of PuO2(am) to relatively soluble Pu(III). Introduction of Eu(III) or Nd(III) to the suspensions as competitive cations to displace possible sorbed Pu(III) resulted in the release of significant concentrations of aqueous Pu. However, the similarity of aqueous Pu concentrations that resulted from the introduction of Eu(III)/Nd(III) to suspensions with and without magnetite indicated that the Pu was solubilized from PuO2(am), not from magnetite. © 2012 American Chemical Society.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11610-11617
Number of pages7
JournalEnvironmental Science and Technology
Volume46
Issue number21
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Nov 2012

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Dalton Nuclear Institute

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