Environmental Mobility of Pu(IV) in the Presence of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid: Myth or Reality?

Ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (EDTA), which was co-disposed with Pu at several US Department of Energy sites, has been reported to enhance the solubility and transport of Pu. It is generally assumed that this enhanced transport of Pu in geologic environments is a result of complexation of Pu(IV) with EDTA. However, the fundamental basis for this assumption has never been fully explored. Whether EDTA can mobilize Pu(IV) in geologic environments is dependent on many factors, chief among them are not only the complexation constants of Pu with EDTA and dominant oxidation state and the nature of Pu solids, but also (1) the complexation constants of environmentally important metal ions (e.g., Fe, Al, Ca, Mg) that compete with Pu for EDTA and (2) EDTA interactions with the geomedia (e.g., adsorption, biodegradation) that reduce effective EDTA concentrations available for complexation. Extensive studies over a large range of pH values (1 to 14) and EDTA concentrations (0.0001 to 0.01 mol⋅L−1) as a function of time were conducted on the solubility of 2-line ferrihydrite (Fe(OH)3(s)), PuO2(am) in the presence of different concentrations of Ca ions, and mixtures of PuO2(am) and Fe(OH)3(s). The solubility data were interpreted using Pitzer’s ion-interaction approach to determine/validate the solubility product of Fe(OH)3(s), the complexation constants of Pu(IV)-EDTA and Fe(III)-EDTA, and to determine the effect of EDTA in solubilizing Pu(IV) from PuO2(am) in the presence of Fe(III) compounds and aqueous Ca concentrations. Predictions based on these extensive fundamental data show that environmental mobility of Pu as a result of Pu(IV)-EDTA complexation as reported/implied in the literature is a myth rather than the reality. The data also show that in geologic environments where Pu(III) and Pu(V) are stable, the EDTA complexes of these oxidation states may play an important role in Pu mobility.