The effects of humic substances on the transport of radionuclides: recent improvements in the prediction of behaviour and the understanding of mechanisms

Some recent developments made during the European Union 6th Framework Integrated Project FUNMIG in the understanding and prediction of behaviour in ternary systems of radionuclides, humic substances and mineral surfaces are described. These developments are placed in the context of the existing literature. The aim is to describe the current understanding of humic substance mediated radionuclide transport as it may be applied to calculations in support of Radiological Performance Assessment. Some improvements in experimental techniques that provide the raw data to calibrate metal ion binding models are explained. The various metal ion binding models that are available are described and contrasted, before the recent development of ternary system models, in particular the Ligand Charge Distribution model that can predict metal ion and humic substance behaviour in ternary systems. The kinetic effects in ternary systems are described along with the models that are used to describe them. Finally, the remaining challenges in making predictions of radionuclide transport for the Radiological Performance Assessment of radioactive waste repositories are discussed.