Getters for improved technetium containment in cementitious waste forms.

A cementitious waste form, Cast Stone, is a possible candidate technology for the immobilization of low activity nuclear waste (LAW) at the Hanford site. This work focuses on the addition of getter materials to Cast Stone that can sequester Tc from the LAW, and in turn, lower Tc release from the Cast Stone. Two getters which produce different products upon sequestering Tc from LAW were tested: Sn(II) apatite (Sn-A) that removes Tc as a Tc(IV)-oxide and potassium metal sulfide (KMS-2) that removes Tc as a Tc(IV)-sulfide species, allowing for a comparison of stability of the form of Tc upon entering the waste form. The Cast Stone with KMS-2 getter had the best performance with addition equivalent to ∼0.08wt% of the total waste form mass. The observed diffusion (Dobs) of Tc decreased from 4.6±0.2×10-12cm2/s for Cast Stone that did not contain a getter to 5.4±0.4×10-13cm2/s for KMS-2 containing Cast Stone. It was found that Tc-sulfide species are more stable against re-oxidation within getter containing Cast Stone compared with Tc-oxide and is the origin of the decrease in Tc Dobs when using the KMS-2.

Prediction of diffusion coefficients in porous media using tortuosity factors based on interfacial areas.

Determination of aqueous phase diffusion coefficients of solutes through porous media is essential for understanding and modeling contaminant transport. Prediction of diffusion coefficients in both saturated and unsaturated zones requires knowledge of tortuosity and constrictivity factors. No methods are available for the direct measurement of these factors, which are empirical in their definition. In this paper, a new definition for the tortuosity factor is proposed, as the real to ideal interfacial area ratio. We define the tortuosity factor for saturated porous media (tau5) as the ratio S/S(o) (specific surface of real porous medium to that of an idealized capillary bundle). For unsaturated media, tortuosity factor (tau(a)) is defined as a(aw)/a(aw),o (ratio of the specific air-water interfacial area of real and the corresponding idealized porous medium). This tortuosity factor is suitably measured using sorptive tracers (e.g., nitrogen adsorption method) for saturated media and interfacial tracers for unsaturated media. A model based on this new definition of tortuosity factors, termed the interfacial area ratio (IAR) model, is presented for the prediction of diffusion coefficients as a function of the degree of water saturation. Diffusion coefficients and diffusive resistances measured in a number of saturated and unsaturated granular porous media, for solutes in dilute aqueous solutions, agree well with the predictions of the IAR model. A comparison of permeability of saturated sands estimated based on tau(s) and the same based on the Kozeny-Carman equation confirm the usefulness of the tau(s) parameter as a measure of tortuosity.