Incorporation of cerium and neodymium in uranyl phases

The potential for incorporating rare earth elements (REE) into/onto crystalline compounds has been evaluated by precipitating uranyl phases from aqueous solutions containing either cerium or neodymium. These REEs serve both as monitors for evaluating the potential repository behavior of REE radionuclides, and as surrogate elements for actinides (e.g., Ce4 and Nd3 for Pu4 and Am3, respectively). The present experiments examined the behavior of REE in the presence of ianthinite Formula Not Shown, becquerelite (Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6(H2O)8), and other uranyl hydroxide compounds commonly noted as alteration products during the corrosion of UO2, spent nuclear fuel, and naturally occurring uraninite. The results of these experiments demonstrate that significant quantities of both cerium (Kd=1020) and neodymium (Kd=840) are incorporated within the uranium alteration phases and suggest that ionic substitution and/or adsorption to the uranyl phases can play a key role in the limiting the mobility of REE (and by analogy, actinide elements) in a nuclear waste repository.