Journal Article
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116, iss. 35, pp. 17181-17186, 2019
Authors
Steven R. Spurgeon, Michel Sassi, Colin Ophus, Joanne E. Stubbs, Eugene S. Ilton, Edgar C. Buck
Abstract
Significance
Our study has far-reaching implications for the safe use of nuclear materials around the world. The strong oxidative tendency of the actinides drives contamination of groundwater near waste storage sites. A key finding of our study is that excess oxygen from the environment can be incorporated at far greater levels than previously thought, while still preserving the nominal cubic crystal structure of the widely used nuclear fuel
U
O
2
. This insight, enabled by atomic-resolution spectroscopy and theory calculations, will allow us to develop better, more reliable models for nuclear waste storage and disposal.
