Publications

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A low-hazard approach is presented to prepare metallographic cross-sections of moisture-sensitive battery components. The approach is tailored for evaluation of thermal (molten salt) batteries composed of thin pressed-powder pellets, but has general applicability to other battery electrochemistries. Solution-cast polystyrene is used to encapsulate cells before embedding in epoxy. Nonaqueous grinding and polishing are performed in an industrial dry room to increase throughput. Lapping oil is used as a lubricant throughout grinding. Hexane is used as the solvent throughout processing; occupational exposure levels are well below the limits. Light optical and scanning electron microscopy on cross-sections are used to analyse a thermal battery cell. Spatially resolved X-ray diffraction on oblique angle cut cells complement the metallographic analysis. Published 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

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For the WIPP, chemical and physical characteristics of MgO suggest it to be the most beneficial backfill choice, particularly because it has the ability to buffer the aqueous chemical conditions to control actinide volubility. In the current experimental program, the authors are developing a technical basis for taking credit for the complete set of attributes of MgO in geochemical, hydrogeological, and geomechanical technical areas, resulting in an improved conceptual model for the WIPP such as the following. Water uptake by MgO will delay the development of mobile actinides and gas generation by microbes and corrosion. Reduced gas generation will reduce or even eliminate spallings releases. As MgO hydrates, it swells, reducing porosity and permeability, which will inhibit gas flow in the repository, in turn reducing spallings releases. Hydration will also result in a self-sealing mechanism by which water uptake and swelling of MgO adjacent to a groundwater seep cuts off further seepage. Reaction with some groundwaters will produce cementitious materials, which will help to cement waste particles or produce a cohesive solid mass. Larger particles are less likely to be entrained in a spallings release. If sufficient water eventually accumulates in a repository to support microbial gas generation, magnesium carbonate cements will form; also producing good cohesion and strength.

Backfills have been part of Sandia National Laboratories' [Sandia's] Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [WIPP] designs for over twenty years. Historically, backfill research at Sandia has depended heavily on the changing mission of the WIPP facility. Early testing considered heat producing, high level, wastes. Bentonite/sand/salt mixtures were evaluated and studies focused on developing materials that would retard brine ingress, sorb radionuclides, and withstand elevated temperatures. The present-day backfill consists of pure MgO [magnesium oxide] in a pelletized form and is directed at treating the relatively low contamination level, non-heat producing, wastes actually being disposed of in the WIPP. Its introduction was motivated by the need to scavenging CO{sub 2} [carbon dioxide] from decaying organic components in the waste. However, other benefits, such as a substantial desiccating capacity, are also being evaluated. The MgO backfill also fulfills a statutory requirement for assurance measures beyond those needed to demonstrate compliance with the US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] regulatory release limits. However, even without a backfill, the WIPP repository design still operates within EPA regulatory release limits.

We investigated the interaction of dissolved actinides Th, U, Np Zgpu, and Am, with a pure and a mixed culture of halophilic bactezia isolated from the Waste Isolation H.Iot Plant repository under anaerobic conditions to evaluate their potentiaI transport as biocolloids from the waste site. The sizes of the bacterial cells studied ranged from ().54 x 0.48 pm to 7.7 x 0.67pm Using sequential mimofiltration, we determined the ~~ation of actinides with fi-ee-living (mobile) bacterial cells suspended in a fluid medium containing. NaCl or M=W12 brine, at various phaes of their growth cycIes. The number of suspended kcteria rangy-d born 106 to 109 cells ml-*. Tine amount of actinide associatd with the wspend~ cell fraction (cakzdated & mol cell-*) was very Iow: Th, 10-*2; U, 10-1s - 10-lS; - ~ Np, 1o-15- 10-19; Pu, 10-ls -10-21 ; and h, 10-1* - 10-*9 ; and it varied with the bacteihl - CUIture studied. l%e differe&es in the asswiation are amibuted to the extent of bioamxmdation and biosorption by the bacteria pH, the compo&on of the brine, and the speziation and bioavaiIability of the actinides.

A backfill system has been designed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) which will control the chemical environment of the post-closure repository to a domain where the actinide solubility is within its lowest region. The actinide solubility is highly dependent on the chemical species which constitute the fluid, the resulting pH of the fluid, and the oxidation state of the actinide which is stable under the specific conditions. The use of magnesium oxide (MgO) has the backfill material not only controls the pH of the expected fluids, but also effectively removes carbonate from the system, which has a significant impact on actinide solubility. The backfill selection process, emplacement system design, and confirmatory experimental results are presented.