A priority goal of the United States Department of Energy is to dispose of nuclear wastes accumulated in underground tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Richland, WA. Incorporation and stability of technetium (99Tc) into vitrified waste forms is a concern to the waste glass community and DOE due to its long half-life (2.1∙105 y), and its high mobility in the subsurface environment under oxidizing conditions. We provide a progress report on our efforts to obtain first-of-a-kind chemical structure determination of poorly understood, environmentally relevant, alkali technetium oxide pure compounds. Knowledge of the structure and spectral signature of these compounds, will aid in refining the understanding of Tc-99 incorporation into and release from oxide nuclear waste glasses. Compounds currently under investigation, which are all, all non-pertechnetate Tc7+ and their rhenium analogs. This work provides much needed data for assessing reactions of water with Tc in glass, and thus improving understanding of Tc environmental release which impacts performance assessment models for waste repositories.

Alkali technetium oxides as model compounds for Tc-99 incorporation in glass

250th National Meeting (2015)

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