Reactive transport modeling of column experiments on the evolution of saline-alkaline waste solutions.

Leakage of saline-alkaline tank waste solutions often creates a serious environmental contamination problem. To better understand the mechanisms controlling the fate of such waste solutions in the Hanford vadose zone, we simulated reactive transport in columns designed to represent local site conditions. The Pitzer ion interaction module was used, with principal geochemical processes considered in the simulation including quartz dissolution, precipitation of brucite, calcite, and portlandite, multi-component cation exchange, and aqueous complexation reactions.

Reoxidation of bioreduced uranium under reducing conditions.

Nuclear weapons and fuel production have left many soils and sediments contaminated with toxic levels of uranium (U). Although previous short-term experiments on microbially mediated U(VI) reduction have supported the prospect of immobilizing the toxic metal through formation of insoluble U(IV) minerals, our longer-term (17 months) laboratory study showed that microbial reduction of U can be transient, even under sustained reducing conditions. Uranium was reduced during the first 80 days, but later (100-500 days) reoxidized and solubilized, even though a microbial community capable of reducing U(VI) was sustained.

Colloid formation at waste plume fronts.

Highly saline and caustic tank waste solutions containing radionuclides and toxic metals have leaked into sediments at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities such as the Hanford Site (Washington state).

pH neutralization and zonation in alkaline-saline tank waste plumes.

At the Hanford Site in Washington State, the pH values of contaminant plumes resulting from leaking of initially highly alkaline-saline radioactive waste solutions into the subsurface are now found to be substantially neutralized. However, the nature of plume pH neutralization has not previously been understood. As a master geochemical variable, pH needs to be understood in order to predict the fate and transport of contaminants carried by the waste plumes.

Influence of calcium carbonate on U(VI) sorption to soils.

The high stability of calcium uranyl carbonate complexes in the circumneutral pH range has a strong impact on U(VI) sorption in calcareous soils. To quantify this influence, sorption of U(VI) to soils in the presence of naturally occurring calcium carbonate was investigated by conducting batch experiments in which either U(VI) concentration or solution pH was varied. Two soils containing different calcium carbonate concentrations were selected, one from Oak Ridge, TN, and another from Altamont Pass, CA.