• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.1519-1523
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• 2021

Radioactive iodine (¹³¹I) released from nuclear power plants has been a critical environmental concern for workers. The effective trapping of radioactive iodine isotopes from the off-gas stream generated from nuclear facilities is an important issue in radioactive waste treatment systems evaluation. Numerous studies on retaining methyl iodide (CH₃I¹³¹) by impregnated activated carbons under the high content of moisture have been extensively studied so far. But there have been no good results on how to remove methyl iodide at high humid conditions up to now. A new challenge is to introduce other promising impregnating chemical agents that are able to uptake enough radioactive methyl iodide under high humid conditions. In order to develop a good removal efficiency to control radioiodine gas generated from a high humid process, activated carbons (ACs) impregnated with triethylene diamine (TEDA) and qinuclidine (QUID) were prepared. In addition, the removal efficiencies of the activated carbons (ACs) under humid conditions up to 95% RH were evaluated by applying the standard method specified in ASTM-D3808. Quinuclidine impregnated activated carbon showed a much higher decontamination factor above 1,000, which is enough to meet the regulation index for the iodine filters in nuclear power plants (NPPs).

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.205-224
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• 2023

The emission of off-gas streams from used fuel recycling is a concern in nuclear energy usage as they contain radioactive compounds, such as, ³H, ¹⁴C, ⁸⁵Kr, ¹³¹I, and ¹²⁹I that can be harmful to human health and environment. Radioactive iodine, ¹²⁹I, is particularly troublesome as it has a half-life of more than 15 million years and is prone to accumulate in human thyroid glands. Organic iodides are hazardous even at very low concentrations, and hence the capture of ¹²⁹I is extremely important. Dynamic adsorption experiments were conducted to determine the efficiency of sodium mordenite, partially exchanged silver mordenite, and fully exchanged silver mordenite for the removal of methyl iodide present at parts per billion concentrations in a simulated off-gas stream. Kinetic analysis of the system was conducted incorporating the effects of diffusion and mass transfer. The possible reaction mechanism is postulated and the order of the reaction and the values of the rate constants were determined from the experimental data. Adsorbent characterization is performed to investigate the nature of the adsorbent before and after iodine loading. This paper will offer a comprehensive understanding of the methyl iodide behavior when in contact with the mordenites.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.207-214
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• 2003

Removal efficiency of methyl iodide at high temperature process by TEDA-impregnated activated carbon used for radioiodine retention in nuclear facility was experimentally compared with that of silver ion-exchanged synthetic zeolite(AgX), In temperature ranges of$30^{\circ}C$ to $400^{\circ}C$, adsorption capacity of un-impregnated carbon was sharply decreased, but TEDA-impregnated carbon showed similar values of adsorption capacity of AgX even around $100^{\circ}C$. Especially, loading amount of methyl iodide on TEDA carbon up to$250^{\circ}C$ represented higher values compared to un-impregnated carbon. Breakthrough curves of methyl iodide in fixed bed packed with AgX and TEDA-impregnated carbon at high temperature was compared. Removal mechanism of methyl iodide on AgX was proposed, based on analysis of by-product gas generated from adsorption reaction.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 2003

Adsorption and desorption characteristics of methyl iodide at high temperature conditions up to 25$0^{\circ}C$ by TEDA-impregnated activated carbon and silver-ion exchanged zeolite(AgX-10), which are used for radioiodine retention in nuclear facility, were experimentally evaluated. In the range of temperature from 3$0^{\circ}C$ to 25$0^{\circ}C$, the adsorption capacity of base activated carbon decreased sharply with increasing temperature but that of TEDA-impregnated activated carbon showed higher value even at high temperature ranges. Especially, the residual amount of methyl iodide after desorption on TEDA-AC represented 30% lower value than that on AgX-10. However, it can be used as an adsorbent for the removal of methyl iodide up to 15$0^{\circ}C$ if it is preventing explosion by Ignition. The breakthrough curves of methyl iodide in the fixed bed packed with AgX-10 uP to 40$0^{\circ}C$ were compared upon the effects of bed temperatures, bed depth and input concentration of methyl iodide. Removal mechanism of methyl iodide on AgX-10 was proposed, based on the analysis of by-product gas generated from adsorption reaction.

• Clean Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.110-116
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• 2008

The radioactive wastes generated from the nuclear industry can be divided into the forms of solid, liquid, or gas. Radioactive methyl iodide, a gaseous radioactive waste, is absorbed by activated carbon with 5 wt% of Trietylenediamine (1,4-diazania-bicycle[2.2.2]octane, TEDA) impregnated on the surface. Methyl Iodide ($CH_3I$) is combined chemically with TEDA (the final product : I-TEDA). To recycle radioactive activated carbon, removal of I-TEDA from activated carbon is needed. A wet method for recycling impregnated active carbon was developed to remove radioactive I-TEDA using an acetonitrile solution, which produces lots of secondary wastes. We suggest the removal of I-TEDA by supercritical carbon dioxide with co-solvents. In this experiment, we used a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) for measuring the removal rate of the I-TEDA. From the experimental results, methanol was found to be the optimum co-solvent, and the optimum conditions such as temperature, pressure, and co-solvent flow rate were obtained. Possibility of using supercritical fluid in the removal of I-TEDA from radioactive activated carbon was also discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1765-1775
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• 2000

The removal of radioactive organic iodide generated from high temperature process in nuclear facility was generally performed by silver ion-exchanged synthetic zeolite (AgX). The purpose of this study is to obtain fundamental data for the substitution of natural zeolite(NZ) in stead of synthetic zeolite as supporter for the removal of methyl iodide in high temperature conditions. Therefore, NZ was modified with NaCl, $NaNO_3$ solution, and the analysis of the physical or surface characteristics through XRD, SEM-EDAX, and BET analysis was performed. In order to obtain the optimal surface-modification condition of NZ, adsorption capacities at $150^{\circ}C$ on surface-modified silver ion-exchanged NZ prepared with the variation of solution concentration were evaluated. The optimal condition of surface modification is that concentration of $NaNO_3$ and $AgNO_3$ are 1N and 1.2N, respectively(namely Ag-SMNZ). The adsorption isotherm of methyl iodide on Ag-SMNZ in a range of $100^{\circ}C$ to $300^{\circ}C$ was obtained, which is similar to that of 13X, and the maximum adsorption amount of Ag-SMNZ reached approximately 50% that of AgX. It would be evaluated that the adsorption capacity at $150{\sim}200^{\circ}C$ is relatively higher than other temperature, and the chemisorption between silver and iodide is attributed to a strong binding even after desorption test.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.311-318
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• 2010

U. S. NRC Regulation Guide 1.52 regulating ESF ACS in nuclear power plants has been revised to revision 3. To apply reduction of operability test time, allowance of alternative challenge agents for in-place leak test of HEPA filters, and upgrade of Methyl Iodide penetration acceptance criterion in activated carbon performance test suggested in Reg. Guide 1.52(Rev.3) on Yonggwang units 5 and 6 ESF ACSes, technical feasibility study was carried out with on-site experiments as well as experiments with a lab-scale model. It was confirmed that the moisture in the system returned to the level before the test in 1 or 4 days even though the moisture was removed during the operability test lasting more than 10 hours. Therefore, it is appropriate to perform monthly operability test in 15 minutes just long enough to check the operability of equipment. To change challenge material for in-place HEPA filter leak test, size of aerosol, production rate, and leak detection capability were compared for DOP and PAO. It was concluded that PAO can be substituted for DOP in nuclear power plants. The upgrade of Methyl Iodide penetration acceptance criterion from 0.175 % to 0.5 % in active carbon filter bed deeper than 4 inches was to conform to the change of activated carbon performance test method to ASTM D3803(1989). It was confirmed that Methyl Iodide penetration acceptance criterion of 0.5 % under $30^{\circ}C$, relative humidity 95 % condition was conservatively good enough for testing performance of active carbon insitu. The licence change of Yonggwang units 5 and 6 has been completed based on this study.