Nuclear waste disposal—pyrochlore (A2B2O7): Nuclear waste form for the immobilization of plutonium and “minor” actinides

During the past half-century, the nuclear fuel cycle has generated approximately 1400 metric tons of plutonium and substantial quantities of the “minor” actinides, such as Np, Am, and Cm. The successful disposition of these actinides has an important impact on the strategy for developing advanced nuclear fuel cycles, weapons proliferation, and the geologic disposal of high-level radioactive waste. During the last decade, there has been substantial interest in the use of the isometric pyrochlore structure-type, A2B2O7, for the immobilization of actinides. Most of the interest has focused on titanate-pyrochlore because of its chemical durability; however, these compositions experience a radiation-induced…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• JS
  John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
• UO
  University of Michigan
• UO
  University of Alberta
• UO
  University of Cambridge
• RA
  Russian Academy of Sciences
• BE
  Basic Energy Sciences
• OR
  Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• PN
  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory