Speciation, Techniques and Facilities for Radioactive Materials At
SESSION I X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Radionuclides Chairs: G. Kaindl, G. Bernhard, D.L. Clark 13 ACTINIDES IN SILICATE GLASSES AND MELTS AND ON MINERAL SURFACES: INFORMATION ON LOCAL CO-ORDINATION ENVIRONMENTS FROM XAFS SPECTROSCOPY AND BOND VALENCE THEORY Gordon E. Brown, Jr.,1,2 François Farges,1,2,3 John R. Bargar2 and Hillary Thompson Berbeco4 1Surface & Aqueous Geochemistry Group Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2115, USA 2Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory P.O. Box 4349, Stanford, CA 94309-0210, USA 3Laboratoire des Géomatériaux, Université de Marne-la-Vallée 5, blvd Descartes, Champs s/Marne, 77454 Marne-la-Vallée Cedex 2, France 4F.W. Olin College of Engineering 1735 Great Plain Avenue, Needham, MA 02492-1245 Abstract The impact of actinides on the environment is mitigated by their interaction with particle surfaces and by incorporation into suitable waste forms. In both cases, a fundamental knowledge of the local co-ordination environment of actinide ions is essential for understanding their stability in various near-surface environments under a range of conditions. When actinide ions are sorbed on mineral surfaces, the extent to which the ions are immobilised depends on the type of surface complex or solid precipitate that forms. When incorporated into a glass or crystalline waste form, the stability of the actinide will depend in part on its redox state and local co-ordination environment. In both cases, XAFS spectroscopy can provide unique information on the number and types of first and, in certain cases, more distant neighbours, and their geometric arrangement (including inter-atomic distances and a measure of their disorder).
[Show full text]