Effect of High pH Found in Low-Level Radioactive Waste Leachates on the Antioxidant Depletion of a HDPE Geomembrane

Antioxidant depletion from a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane with hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS) immersed in three different high pHs solutions is examined over a 3-year period. The three solutions had the same concentration of inorganic salts but a range of pH (9.5, 11.5, and 13.5) likely to encompass those found in low-level radioactive waste leachate and other geoenvironmental applications. Increasing the pH from 9.5 to 13.5 increased the antioxidant depletion rates detected by both standard and high-pressure oxidative induction time tests (Std-OIT and HP-OIT) and also increased the residual HP-OIT values. Arrhenius modeling is used to predict the length antioxidant depletion stage for each solution.