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Environmental Behavior Of Hafnium: The Impact On The Disposition Of Weapons-Grade Plutonium, Gary S. Cerefice '89
Environmental Behavior Of Hafnium: The Impact On The Disposition Of Weapons-Grade Plutonium, Gary S. Cerefice '89
Doctoral Dissertations
Experimental and analytical studies were performed to examine the environmental behavior of hafnium and its utility as a neutron poison for the disposition of weapons-grade plutonium in Yucca Mountain. The hydrolysis of hafnium was investigated by potentiometric titration in solutions of varying ionic strength to determine the stability constants for the first four monomeric hydrolysis products. The specific ion interaction theory is used to extrapolate these results to infinite dilution. The solubility of hafnium hydroxide and a meta-stable hafnium carbonate solid phase are studied via solubility experiments using ICP-AES. An upper bound for the stability constant of the first carbonate …