Renata Adamcova

PILOT RESEARCH ON DIFFUSION PARAMETERS OF U­235
FISSION PRODUCTS IN SLOVAK BENTONITES.
1 Renata Adamcova , 2 Michal Galambos , 3 Tatiana Durmekova , 4 Olga Rosskopfova , 5 Adrian
Krajnak , 6 Patricia Ekkertova
1,2,3,4,5,6 Comenius University In Bratislava, Faculty Of Natural Sciences, Mlynska Dolina,
842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; *[email protected]
Keywords: bentonite, dry bulk density, diffusion test, apparent diffusion coefficient, U­235
fission products
Many scientific papers deal with sorption properties of bentonites, e. g. sorption of heavy
metals in mineral linings of municipal landfills, or of radionuclides in technical bentonite
barriers of the deep geological repository of radioactive waste (DGR RW) (Kugler et al., 2002;
Missana et al., 2008; Galambos et al., 2011). Most work with radionuclides was done by batch
tests that give only distribution coefficients Kd expressing the ratio of equilibrium between
ions in the solution and ions sorbed on the solid phase, or in a best case, the maximum sorption
capacity is the result (Galambos et al., 2012). Short duration is the advantage of batch tests, up
to 24 hours, mostly less. Therefore, many authors use Kd also for the calculation of the
retardation factor Rf from various equations. Retardation factors indicate, how many times is
the migration velocity of the studied substance lower compared to the non­sorbed tracer, and
together with the apparent diffusion coefficient Da, they cannot be avoided in the
mathematical modeling of the pollution distribution in the geological environment. Da cannot
be determined from batch tests and Rf calculated from Kd differs highly from diffusion tests
data, it can be thousand times higher (Maes et al., 2008; Valderrama, 2010). Within data on
sorption properties of Slovak bentonites, realistic diffusion parameters, i. e. from diffusion tests,
are missing. Regarding plans for DGR RW, it is necessary to determine parameters of U­235
fission products diffusion, while parameters of non­sorbed tracers are interesting also for
municipal landfill sealing. Methodology development for the laboratory diffusion tests
enabling prediction of these parameters from the bentonite dry bulk density is one of the
partial goals of a new research project VEGA 1/0828/13 granted by the Ministry of Education,
Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic. Dry bulk density of the bentonite barrier
in the RW repository will be extremely high and migration slow (Pacovsky et al., 2007; Garcia­
Gutierrez et al., 2011). Diffusion experiments under such conditions require years, with low
success warranty. Therefore, diffusion tests will be carried out on samples of various
consistency and lower dry bulk densities pressed from bentonite paste. The goal is to describe
diffusion parameters of selected bentonites as functions of their dry bulk density. Using
density­dependent trendlines, apparent diffusion coefficients Da and retardation factors Rf of
selected radionuclides and tracers will be predicted for the high­density bentonite. It is similar
to trendlines already constructed by some authors for the swelling pressure as a function of the
dry bulk density of the compacted/pressed bentonite (e. g. www.grimsel.com/febex). Research
backgrounds, proposed methodology with exact time schedule, as well as expected particular
scientific and practical contributions will be presented at the conference, in order to recognize
possible weak points of the project in the discussion with the highly qualified international
conference audience and to take corrective measures at the very first beginnings of the project
if it appears necessary.
References
Galambos, M., Rosskopfova, O., Kufcakova, J. and Rajec, P. (2011) Utilization of Slovak
bentonites in deposition of high­level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Journal of
Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 288, 3, 765­777.
Galambos, M., Suchanek, P. and Rosskopfova, O. (2012) Sorption of anthropogenic
radionuclides on natural and synthetic inorganic sorbents. Journal of Radioanalytical and
Nuclear Chemistry, 293, 2, 613­633.
Garcia­Gutierrez, M., Cormenzana, J.L., Missana, T., Alonso, U. and Mingarro, M. (2011)
Diffusion of strongly sorbing cations (60Co and 152Eu) in compacted FEBEX bentonite.
Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 36, 1708­1713.
Kugler, H., Ottner, F., Froeschl, H., Adamcova, R. and Schwaighofer, B. (2002) Retention of
inorganic pollutants in clayey base sealings of municipal landfills. Applied Clay Science, 21,
1­2, 45­58.
Maes, N., Salah, S., Jacques, D., Aertsens, M., Van Gompel, M., De Canniere, M. and
Velitchkova, N. (2008) Retention of Cs in Boom Clay: Comparison of data from batch sorption
tests and diffusion experiments on intact clay cores. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 33,
149­155.
Missana, T., Garcia­Guttierez, M. and Alonso, U. (2008) Sorption of strontium onto
illite/smectite mixed clays. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 33, 156­162.
Pacovsky, J., Svoboda, J. and Zapletal, L. (2007) Saturation development in the bentonite
barrier of the Mock­Up­CZ geotechnical experiment. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 32,
767­779.
Valderrama, C. (2010) Transport of strontium through a Ca­bentonite (Almeria, Spain) and
comparison with MX­80 bentonite: Experimental and modeling. Water Soil Pollution, 214, 1­
4.