Impact of alpha-recoil damage on dissolution of thoriated glass

Reaction of a seventeen-year old borosilicate glass containing 4 wt% ThO{sub 2} with a bicarbonate-carbonate solution was investigated for times from a few minutes up to approximately one year. For the untreated glass, the initial 228-Th leach rate was enhanced relative to the initial 232-Th leach rate by 15--45%. This incongruent dissolution occurs due to the selective removal of radiogenic 228-Th nuclides from 228-Ra-recoil tracks, damaged regions in the aperiodic glass. Heating the glass at 650 C in air prior to leaching eliminates the 228-Th/232-Th fractionation. Similar enhanced dissolution of alpha-decay products may occur in nuclear waste glasses/groundwater systems; thus, actinide-containing glasses should be examined for alpha-recoil damage effects in order to insure satisfactory prediction of the long-term release of actinides from the nuclear waste glass.