Publications

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.