PNNL

Abstract

Technetium is an important environmental contaminant introduced by the processing and disposal of irradiated nuclear fuel and atmospheric nuclear tests. Under oxic conditions technetium is soluble and exists as pertechnatate anion (TcO4-), while under anoxic conditions Tc is usually insoluble and exists as precipitated Tc(IV). Here we investigated abiotic Tc(VII) reduction in mineralogically heterogeneous, Fe(II)-containing sediments. The sediments were collected from a 55 m borehole that sampled a semi-confined aquifer at the Hanford Site, USA that contained a dramatic redox transition zone. One oxic facies (18.0-18.3 m) and five anoxic facies (18.3-18.6 m, 30.8-31.1 m, 39.0-39.3 m, 47.2-47.5 m and 51.5-51.8 m) were selected for this study. Chemical extractions, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and Mössbauer spectroscopy were applied to characterize the Fe(II) mineral suite that included: Fe(II)-phyllosilicates, pyrite, magnetite and siderite. The Fe(II) mineral phase distribution differed between the sediments. Sediment suspensions were adjusted to the same 0.5 M HCl extracted Fe(II) concentration (0.6 mM) for Tc(VII) reduction experiments. Aqueous Fe was low in all sediment suspensions (