Enhanced migration of radionuclides through cementitious nuclear site materials
This project aimed to investigate the potential to enhance the movement of a variety of radionuclides through cementitious materials using an applied voltage. The radionuclides of interest in these trials were H-3, Sr-90, I-129, Cs-137 and U-236.
Dr Ian Burke (University of Leeds) and Shaun Hemming (PhD student, University of Southampton) - NNUF funded access project
(contact I.T.Burke@leeds.ac.uk or sdh1g16@soton.ac.uk)
Cylindrical blocks of cement were contaminated either during casting or by soaking the cured block in the radionuclide containing solution. These two scenarios were used to simulate different types of contamination (surface sorption or penetrative incorporation). Each set of cement blocks was then either electrokinetically treated for ~6 weeks, left to soak in a non-contaminated solution (diffusion control) or left with no treatment (dry control).
After the 6 week treatment, the blocks were cross-sectioned using a precision saw. One half of each cross-section was sent for imaging using autoradiography to qualitatively determine spatial activity concentrations whilst the other half was further sectioned and taken through radiochemical separation processes to determine quantitative activity concentrations for each nuclide. The results of these experiments will be published as an output from the TRANSCEND research programme.
How did EXACT support this project?
- Provision of certified radioactive tracer solution for spiking of cement / soaking solutions
- Facility space including fume- cupboards for conducting 6-week electrokinetic trials
- Practical guidance including experimental set-up, sub-sampling and radiochemical separations
- Transport of subsamples to/from BGS for autoradiography analysis
- Access to instrumentation including gamma and alpha spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting