Evaluation of the Demineralizer Performance and $^{65}Zn$ Activity on Spent Resin for a Zinc Addition Operation

Zinc acetate has been proposed and used to evaluate ionic zinc as a means to reduce reactor radiation buildup at several nuclear plants. Thermodynamic analysis of the aqueous zinc system using reliable data shows that the stability of the hydrolyzed zinc species increases with pH and temperature. Adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies were carried out to investigate the mixed resin performance of the zinc adsorption. The equilibrium isotherms of the zinc adsorption onto nuclear grade resin indicate that the data correlate well with the Langmuir model and that the adsorption is physical in nature. The maximum capacity according to the Langrnuir model is about 0.6meq/g for an initial zinc concentration of 100ppm at $50^{\circ}C$. The use of natural zinc could result in the generation of a $^{65}Zn$ activity with about $500{\mu}Ci/mL$ of resin after 12 months of operation.