Materials Characteristics and Dissolution Behavior of Spent Nuclear Fuel

Abstract

The geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel is currently under consideration in many countries. Most of this fuel is in the form of assemblies of zirconium-alloy-clad rods containing enriched (1–4% 235U) or natural (0.71% 235U) uranium oxide pellets. Approximately 135,000 Mg are presently in temporary storage facilities throughout the world in nations with commercial nuclear power stations.Safe geologic disposal of nuclear waste could be achieved using a combination of a natural barrier (the host rock of the repository) and engineered barriers, which would include a low-solubility waste form, long-lived containers, and clay- and cement-based barriers surrounding the waste containers and sealing the excavations.A requirement in evaluating the safety of disposal of nuclear waste is a knowledge of the kinetics and mechanism of dissolution of the waste form in groundwater and the solubility of the waste form constituents. In the case of spent nuclear fuel, this means developing an understanding of fuel microstructure, its impact on release of contained fission products, and the dissolution behavior of spent fuel and of UO2, the principal constituent of the fuel.