Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Flowthrough dissolution tests using solutions with pH in the range 2 to 7 have been conducted on a moderate burnup Light Water Reactor spent fuel. Such low pH conditions have been modeled as possibly occurring in a failed waste package at the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. The release oftotal uranium, 99Tc, 90Sr, 137Cs, and 239&240Pu were measured for up to 90% total reaction of the specimens. The reaction rates, determined both from the cumulative release and the release normalized to surface area, were found to decrease with increasing pH and with increasing extent of reaction. The implications to instantaneous release and long-term behavior ina geologic repository are discussed.