Effects of irradiation on the thorium phosphate diphosphate ceramics and consequences on its dissolution

Thorium phosphate diphosphate samples (β-TPD), proposed as a ceramic for the long term immobilization of actinides, were externally irradiated with ions at several energies in order to simulate the self-irradiation as well as with γ-rays. The influence of the electronic energy loss was first investigated. XRD measurements showed a complete amorphization of the material at 1013 cm−2 of 840 MeV krypton while no significant structural change occurred at 5 × 1013 cm−2 of 410 MeV sulfur. The dissolution of raw and irradiated pellets was studied versus several parameters such as the amorphized fraction, the radiolytic species (as instance hydrogen peroxide) produced in situ in the leachate during irradiation, the temperature and the leachate acidity. The results obtained reveal a significant increase of the kinetics of dissolution for amorphized pellets compared to the raw ceramic.