Formation of plutonium(<scp>iv</scp>) silicate species in very alkaline reactive media
Paul Estevenon, Thomas Dumas, Pier Lorenzo Solari, E. Welcomme, Stéphanie Szenknect, Adel Mesbah, Kristina O. Kvashnina, Philippe Moisy, Christophe Poinssot, Nicolas Dacheux
Abstract
. Successive filtration processes allowed evaluation of their size, which was found to be smaller than 6 nm. Their structural characterization by XAS evidenced that their structure was similar to those identified for the other tetravalent actinide-silicate colloidal systems like thorium, uranium and neptunium. Their formation could explain the increase of plutonium solubility usually observed in alkaline silicate-rich solutions and could affect the plutonium mobility as a result in contaminated sites or in other environmental permeable media.
Topics & Concepts
PlutoniumSilicateThoriumNeptuniumChemistryUraniumActinideColloidInorganic chemistryAqueous solutionSolubilityNuclear chemistryRadiochemistryMaterials sciencePhysical chemistryMetallurgyOrganic chemistryRadioactive element chemistry and processingNuclear materials and radiation effectsRadioactive contamination and transfer