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The Identification and Degradation of Isosaccharinic Acid, a Cellulose Degradation Product

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

B. F. Greenfield ,
G. J. Holtom ,
M. H. Hurdus ,
N. O’Kelly ,
N.J. Pilkington ,
A. Rosevear ,
M. W. Spindler  and
S. J. Williams
B. F. Greenfield
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
G. J. Holtom
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
M. H. Hurdus
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
N. O’Kelly
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
N.J. Pilkington
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
A. Rosevear
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
M. W. Spindler
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
S. J. Williams
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK, 0X11 ORA.
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Abstract

Nirex is seeking to develop a deep underground repository for the disposal of solid intermediate-level and low-level radioactive wastes (ILW and LLW) in the UK. One possible influence on the behaviour of radionuclides is the formation of water-soluble complexants by the degradation of the solid organic polymers that will be present in the wastes. The degradation products of cellulose have been shown to increase the solubility of plutonium and other radionuclides and to reduce sorption onto near-field and far-field materials. Degradation of cellulose under anaerobic alkaline conditions produces a range of organic acids. In this paper 2-C-(hydroxymethyl)-3-deoxy-D-pentonic acid (isosaccharinic acid, ISA) is identified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography as a significant component of cellulose leachates. A combination of fractionation of cellulose leachates and plutonium solubility determinations shows that ISA is responsible for the majority of the enhancement of plutonium solubility observed in such leachates. Further degradation of ISA by chemical or microbial action may lessen the effect of degraded cellulose leachates. Experimental studies on the chemical degradation of this compound under alkaline conditions suggest that the presence of oxygen is required. Microbial degradation studies show that the plutonium solubility in solutions of ISA is reduced by their exposure to microbial action.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 353: Symposium – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XVIII , 1994 , 1151
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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