Structural Evolvement and the Capability of Resistance to γ-ray Irradiation for Zircon Originating from Geological Environment

In order to investigate the structural evolvement and the capability of resistance to γ-ray irradiation for zircon as mothball waste forms of radionuclide,the zircon crystals(439.8±4.3 Ma) were studied as investigative object,which were collected from the bayan bold granite-porphyry in the inner mongolia autonomous region.All the samples were irradiated using a 60Co γ-ray source with 576 kGy doses.Phases,structures and microstructures of the as-gained samples before and after γ-ray irradiation were characterized by means of a multi-functional microscope,cathodoluminescence(CL),backscattered electron microprobe(BEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD),Raman spectroscopy(Raman),infrared spectroscopy(IR) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and so on.Moreover,the geological backgrounds and chemical compositions of zircons originating from natural rocks were analyzed as well.The results indicate that the as-gained crystals came from magmatic rock which undergone 439.8±4.3 million years geological evolvement and still contain UO2 and ThO2 with the contents of 0.5798%.The alteration of 10-3 nm magnitude in the crystal cell parameters was measured(cf the standard XRD card of zircon).The irradiation on the crystalline samples using γ-ray induced to the alteration of 10-4nm magnitude for their crystal cell parameters.The conclusion shows that zircon crystals with a certain amount of UO2 and ThO2 have better structural stability for the γ-ray irradiation.