Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T09:44:59.568Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Modelling Study on the Fractionation of Uranium Among Minerals During Rock Weathering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1992

Toshihiko Ohnuki ,
Takashi Murakami  and
Nobuyuki Yanase
Toshihiko Ohnuki
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Safety Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-11, Japan
Takashi Murakami
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Safety Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-11, Japan
Nobuyuki Yanase
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Safety Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-11, Japan
Get access

Abstract

A modelling study has been carried out to understand the effect of rock alteration on the fractionation of uranium among coexisting minerals (chlorite, vermiculite, kaolinite, amorphous and crystalline iron minerals) at the Koongarra ore deposit, Australia. The model considers the chlorite weathering process, its mechanism and rate, and assumes the presence of reversible and irreversible sorption sites in the secondary minerals. The calculated uranium concentrations at the two different sites in the minerals were compared with the results of sequential extraction experiments. Good agreement between the calculated and observed uranium concentrations was obtained only when an appropriate fraction of uranium is fixed to the irreversible sorption sites of the altered clay minerals. However, a conventional Kd model gave inconsistent uranium concentrations. The calculated results show that the crystalline iron minerals sorb uranium during all stages of weathering, and that the uranium fractionation among the minerals varies with time until the end of the weathering.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 294: Symposium V – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XVI , 1992 , 527
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

[1] Snelling, A. A., in Uranium in the Pine Creek Geosyncline, edited by Forguson, J. and Goleby, A. B. (IAEA, Vienna 1980) pp. 487–498 Google Scholar
[2] Murakami, T., Isobe, H. and Edis, R., in Scientific Basis for Nuclear Management XIV, edited by Abrajano, T. A. Jr., and Johnson, L. H. (The Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 212, Pittsburg, PA, USA, 1991) p741.Google Scholar
[3] Yanase, N., Nightingale, T., Payne, T. and Duerden, P., Radiochimica Acta, 52/53, 387–393(1991).Google Scholar
[4] Murakami, T., Ohnuki, T. and Sato, T., Kinetic analysis of chlorite alteration, Abstr. Fall Meeting of the Mineral. Soc. Japan (with English abstract), Sendai, Japan (1991).Google Scholar
[5] Ueno, private communication, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Tokai, Ibaraki, Japan.Google Scholar
[6] Ohnuki, T., Yanase, N., Sekine, K., Murakami, T., in preparation for publication.Google Scholar
[7] Payne, T., in Alligator Rivers Analogue Project 1st Annual Report, edited by Duerden, P., (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW 2232, Australia, 1990) p 119.Google Scholar
[8] Hsi, C. D. and Langmuir, D., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 49, 1931-1941 (1985).Google Scholar