CHARACTER OF CHANGES IN THE STRUCTURAL-PHASE COMPOSITION OF SiO2 UNDER ELECTRON IRRADIATION IN AIR AND IN AN AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENT

When RAW is buried in a geological environment, contact with groundwater occurs.The changes in the structure and phase composition of SiO 2 , which is part of the natural granites of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield, were assessed when irradiated in two environments: in air and in a water flow.SiO2 was irradiated with electrons up to D = 10 7 10 8 Gy at the linear accelerator "KUT-1" NSC KIPT.According to X-ray structural analysis and IR-spectroscopy, it was shown that with increasing irradiation dose, crystallization of semi-amorphous SiO 2 was observed, and the sample density remained virtually unchanged.Improvement of the SiO 2 crystal structure was observed already at a dose of D=10 7 Gy in an aqueous environment, which may be due to the presence of hydroxyl groups in ionic and excited states.The density of SiO 2 before and after irradiation in air and in an aqueous environment remained virtually unchanged, and the microhardness increased due to the improvement of the crystal structure.