Factors influencing the rate of radiation-induced dissolution of spent nuclear fuel

Several countries plan to store spent nuclear fuel in deep geological repositories. Accurate prediction of the spent fuel dissolution rate is a key issue in the safety assessment of a future deep repository. A reliable quantitative model for radiation-induced spent fuel dissolution must be based on an accurate description of the dose distribution around the spent fuel and fundamental knowledge about the elementary processes involved. In this paper, we discuss factors influencing the rate of radiation-induced dissolution of spent nuclear fuel, focusing on solutes (H 2 , HCO 3 − , Fe(II) and organic substances affecting the H 2 O 2 concentration and factors influencing the reactivity of the fuel surface towards H 2 O 2 . Taking these factors into account, we have also simulated dissolution of spent nuclear fuel under realistic deep repository conditions.