Spent nuclear fuel water interface

The inherent radioactive characteristics of the spent nuclear fuel condition determine many of the key processes to be studied. Owing to its energy content, spent fuel relaxes by transferring alpha, beta, and gamma radiation to water when contacting it. This originates what is known as radiolysis reactions. The key processes occurring at the spent fuel water interface are depicted in Fig. 8. 

Radiation-induced processes at solid-liquid interfaces are of significant importance in many applications of nuclear technology. In water-cooled nuclear reactors, ionizing radiation induces reactions in the water as well as in the interface between the coolant and various system surfaces such as the reactor vessel and the fuel cladding. These processes will directly or indirectly influence the performance as well as the safety of the reactor. In nuclear fuel reprocessing, the significance of radiation-induced interfacial processes is even more obvious. Many countries plan to store spent nuclear fuel in deep geological repositories. 

Bruno J, Cera E, Grive M, Eklund U-B, Eriksen T. (1999) Experimental determination and chemical modelling of radiolytic processes at the spent fuel/water interface. Swedish Nuclear Euel and Waste Management Co, TR-99-26. 

In real-world applications, the importance of interfaces is hard to overestimate and three chapters are devoted to the effects of radiation at aqueous-solid boundaries. Jonsson focuses on applications within the nuclear industry where basic studies on radiation effects at water-metal interfaces have enabled a proposal for safe storage of spent nuclear fuel. Also with implications for the nuclear industry, Musat et al. document alterations in the radiation chemistry of liquid water confined on the nanoscale. Such nanoconfmed solutions are prevalent in the media proposed and indeed in use for waste storage. In another application, radiation chemistry has successfully been used to produce nanoscale objects such as metallic clusters and nanoparticles, an area summarized by Remita and Remita. 

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