Incorporation of REE into secondary phase studtite

Abstract

The formation of uranyl peroxide phases was identified as a corrosion product of spent fuel by Hanson et al [1]. The subsequent analysis of this phase showed that metastudtite retained 241Am, 237Np and 239Pu [2]. In this study, the retention of radionuclide Pu4+ and An3+, released from the spent fuel matrix into studtite structure, has been evaluated by the precipitation of studtite from uranyl dissolution with variable concentrations of REE (Th, Nd, Sm and Eu). Three different precipitation conditions parameters were studied: media of synthesis, time of synthesis and REE concentration. Synthesized phases were characterized by XRD and the cell parameter was calculated. The REE incorporation was determined by ICP-MS analysis. The results showed that studtite could incorporate 63% of Th in solution during its precipitation. Changes in the “a” cell parameter were identified. The results suggest that studtite coprecipitated with REE could play a role as a limiting for the REE mobility.