Naturally-occurring zirconolites analogues for the long-term encapsulation of actinides in Synroc

The use of natural zirconolites to assess the effect of alpha-decay damage and geochemical alteration on the release of actinides from HLW wasteforms is critically examined. There is evidence that the natural zirconolites provide a good chemical and radiation damage analogy for the HLW wasteforms, but additional work is required to define the geochemical environments in which zirconolite is stable or unstable (e.g., suffering corrosion or chemical alteration, including loss of actinides).