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Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Jess M. Cleveland, Terry F. Rees, Kenneth L. Nash
Nuclear Technology | Volume 62 | Number 3 | September 1983 | Pages 298-310
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33253
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The speciation of added plutonium was determined in groundwaters of widely varying composition from four rock types: basalt, granite, shale, and tuff. Plutonium was soluble in the basalt water, which contained a high fluoride ion concentration, probably as a result of its stabilization in solution as fluoro-complexes, primarily of plutonium (IV); it was insoluble, however, in the shale groundwater, which contained the highest concentration of sulfate ion. Results were intermediate in the granite and tuff groundwaters. In synthetic waters containing significant concentrations of both sulfate and fluoride, the effects were smaller and less predictable. Dissolved oxygen, ionic strength, carbonate ion concentration, and pH had little effect on plutonium speciation in the ranges encountered in this study. However, other ionic species not involved in this study may also influence plutonium speciation. The results have potential significance in establishing site-selection criteria for radioactive waste repositories. All other factors being equal, host rocks whose associated waters contain low concentrations of free fluoride ion should be preferable for the location of waste repositories.