Coprecipitation of thorium with UO2

Abstract

Summary Coprecipitation may be a significant process in controlling radionuclide (RN) release during spent fuel dissolution/reprecipitation in a breached geological disposal site by water. The objective of this work was to study the coprecipitation of thorium with UO2 as host phase under reducing conditions (pure N2 and E h<-100 mV/SHE) as a function of pH and [Th]/[U] initial concentration ratio. For pH < 4, the final concentration of Th was found to be considerably lower than expected if pure phase, Th(OH)4(s) was formed. Coprecipitation phenomena and formation of solid solutions (U,Th)O2+x(s) are suggested to be responsible for the lower solubility concentrations. For pH > 4, the final concentrations seems to be similar to pure phase solubility.