ACTAF: Aquatic chemistry and thermodynamics of actinides and fission products relevant to nuclear waste disposal

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 99.0744

Key words (English)

Illite; protolysis; Eu; U(VI); cation exchange; surface complexation; sorption modelling;
Nuclear Fission; Radioactive Waste; Safety

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: FIKW-2000-00035

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 5.5.2 Nuclear fission

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Coordinator: Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH (D)

Abstract (English)

The project aims to improve the scientific basis for the assessment of performance and safety in waste management. It will provide fundamental knowledge about the behaviour of actinides and fission products in natural aquatic systems.
The project focuses on key areas where further research is essential, including:
i) understanding of the mechanisms that govern the interaction of actinides and fission products in natural aquatic systems;
ii) closing existing gaps in the available thermodynamic database; and
iii) reducing uncertainities in currently used constants. Investigations focus on the thermodynamics of aquatic actinide ions, particularly in the tetravalent oxidation state, on the interaction of actinides and fission products at the solid/aqueous solution interface and on the thermodynamics of secondary solid phases. A link will established to theoretical methods for prediction of chemical behaviour in actinide systems.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 99.0744