• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.127-130
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• 2015

Since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, Prussian blue (PB) has attracted increasing attention as a material for use in decontaminating the environment. We have focused the fundamental mechanism of specific $Cs^+$ adsorption into PB in order to develop high-performance PB-based $Cs^+$ adsorbents. The ability of PB to adsorb Cs varies considerably according to its origin such as what synthesis method was used, and under what conditions the PB was prepared. It has been commonly accepted that the exclusive abilities of PB to adsorb hydrated $Cs^+$ ions are caused by regular lattice spaces surrounded by cyanido-bridged metals. $Cs^+$ ions are trapped by simple physical adsorption in the regular lattice spaces of PB. $Cs^+$ ions are exclusively trapped by chemical adsorption via the hydrophilic lattice defect sites with proton-exchange from the coordination water. Prussian blue are believed to hold great promise for the clean-up of $^{137}Cs$ contaminated water around nuclear facilities and/or after nuclear accidents.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.416-423
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• 1973

Formation of the complexes of alkaline earth metal ions with malonate and o-phthalate ions in aqueous, ethanol-water and acetone-water solutions (20% by volume) was studied at room temperature by the equilibrium ion exchange technique. This technique involved the measurements of distribution of radioactivity between cation exchange resin(Ion Exchange Resin CGC 241) and solution phases after the radioactive metal ions were equilibriated with the cation exchange resin in the presence of malonate or o-phthalate ions of varying concentrations. The pH of the solutions was controlled to 7.2~7.5, and the ionic strength of the solutions was kept at 0.10~0.11. The results of the present study indicated that the alkaline earth metal ions formed one-to-one complexes with the dibasic organic acids in all solvent systems examined. The present study showed that the relative stabilities of the complexes increased in the order: $Ba^{++}\;<\;Sr^{++}\;<\;Ca^{++}$ complexes. It was also observed that the relative tendency of the o-phthalate ion for the complex formation was somewhat greater than that of malonate ion in each solvent system. Furthermore, it was noted that the complexes were formed more readily in the mixed solvent than in the aqueous solution.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2023

Background: The purpose of this study is to purify uranium (U[VI])-contaminated soil-flushing effluent using the precipitation-distillation process for clearance. Precipitation and distillation are commonly used techniques for water treatment. We propose using a combination of these methods for the simple and effective removal of U(VI) ions from soil-flushing effluents. In addition, the U concentration (Bq/g) of solid waste generated in the proposed treatment process was analyzed to confirm whether it satisfies the clearance level. Materials and Methods: Uranium-contaminated soil was decontaminated by soil-flushing using 0.5 M sulfuric acid. The soil-flushing effluent was treated with sodium hydroxide powder to precipitate U(VI) ions, and the remaining U(VI) ions were removed by phosphate addition. The effluent from which U(VI) ions were removed was distilled for reuse as a soil-flushing eluent. Results and Discussion: The purification method using the precipitation-distillation process proposed in this study effectively removes U(VI) ions from U-contaminated soil-flushing effluent. In addition, most of the solid waste generated in the purification process satisfied the clearance level. Conclusion: The proposed purification process is considered to have potential as a soil-flushing effluent treatment method to reduce the amount of radioactive waste generated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.556-561
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• 2017

Serving as an excellent adsorbent and inorganic ion exchanger in the water purification field, zeolite 4A has in this work presented a strong capability for purifying radioactive waste, such as $Sr^{2+}$, $Cs^+$, and $Co^{2+}$ in water. During the processes of decontamination and decommissioning of suspended solids and organics in low-level radioactive wastewater, the purification performance of zeolite 4A has been studied. Under ambient temperature and neutral condition, zeolite 4A absorbed simulated radionuclides such as $Sr^{2+}$, $Cs^+$, and $Co^{2+}$ with an absorption rate of almost 90%. Additionally, in alkaline condition, the adsorption percentage even approached 98.7%. After conducting research on suspended solids and organics of zeolite 4A for the treatment of radionuclides, it was found that the suspended clay was conducive to absorption, whereas the absorption of organics in solution was determined by the species of radionuclides and organics. Therefore, zeolite 4A has considerable potential in the treatment of radioactive wastewater.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2004

Diphosil, a new version of the organic-inorganic composite resin developed by ANL has a structure of the chelating diphosphonic acid groups grafted to a silica support. To apply Diphosil for the treatment of liquid radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, the adsorption equilibrium and column experiments were carried out for the main radionuclides, $^{137}Cs\;and\;^{60}Co$, in the liquid radwaste stream. Through the adsorption equilibrium experiments, the removal efficiencies of $^{137}Cs\;and\;^{60}Co$, and the effects of non-radioactive ions on the removal efficiency have been measured in various conditions using radiotracers. The breakthrough curves for the tested tracers were obtained from the laboratory scale column tests using the simulated liquid radioactive waste. In addition, the removal capacity of Diphosil is compared with that of Amberlite IRN 77 resin, generally used in nuclear power plants.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.79-85
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• 2016

A concrete silo plays an important role in subsurface low- and intermediate-level waste facilities (LILW) by limiting the release of radionuclides from the silo geosphere. However, due to several physical and chemical processes the performance of the concrete structure decreases over time and consequently the concrete loses its effectiveness as a barrier against groundwater inflow and the release of radionuclides. Although a number of processes are responsible for degradation of the silo concrete, it is determined that the main cause is corrosion of the reinforcing steel. Therefore, the time it takes for the silo concrete to fail is calculated based on two factors: the initiation time of corrosion, defined as the time it takes for chloride ions to penetrate through the concrete cover, and the propagation time of corrosion. This paper aims to estimate the time taken for concrete to fail in a LILW disposal facility. Based on the United States Department of Energy (DOE) approach, which indicates that concrete fails completely once 50% of the volume of the reinforcing steel corrodes, the corrosion propagation time is calculated to be 640 years, which is the time it takes for corrosion to penetrate 0.640 cm into the reinforcing steel. In addition to the corrosion propagation time, a diffusion equation is used to calculate the initiation time of corrosion, yielding a time of 1284 years, which post-dates the closure time of the LILW disposal facility if we also consider the 640 years of corrosion propagation. The electrochemical conditions of the passive rebar surface were modified using an acceleration method. This is a useful approach because it can reduce the test time significantly by accelerating the transport of chlorides. Using instrumental analysis, the physicochemical properties of corrosion products were determined, thereby confirming that corrosion occurred, although we did not observe significant cracks in, or expansion of, the concrete. These results are consistent with those of Smartet al., 2006 who reported that corrosion products are easily compressed, meaning that cracks cannot be discerned by eye. Therefore, it is worth noting that rebar corrosion does not strongly influence the hydraulic conductivity of the concrete.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2005

High temperature - high pressure apparatus was developed to simulate nickel fewite corrosion products which were main compositions of the radioactive crud in the nuclear power plant. Corrosion product similar to the crud was obtained by a tube accumulator system. Nickel alloy (Inconel 690) and carbon steel (SA106 Gr. C) were corroded at 270 $\^{circ}C$ in the corrosion product generator. Ni ions and Fe ions dissolved by corrosion reaction were able to be transported to the accumulator because the crud generation mechanism was the solubility change with temperature. To evaluate the properties of simulated corrosion products, scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and EDAX analysis were performed. SEM observation of corrosion product showed the needlelike or crystal structure of oxide depending on precipitating location. The crystal oxide was the nickel ferrite, which was similar to the crud in nuclear power plants.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 2019

Decontamination wastewater generated from the HyBRID decontamination process of the primary system in a nuclear power plant contains impurities such as sulfate ions, metal ions containing radioactive nuclides, and hydrazine (carcinogenic agent). For this reason, it is necessary to develop a technology to remove these impurities from the wastewater to a safe level. In this study, it has been conducted to remove the impurities using a decontamination wastewater surrogate, and a treatment process of the HyBRID decontamination wastewater has been established. The performance and applicability of the treatment process have been verified through 1 L scale of replicates and a pilot scale (300 L/batch) test.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2014

The bentonite, a buffer material, is essential for the deep geological disposal of HLW (high-level radioactive waste), and it is important to know its characteristic long-term evolution in the underground environment. With an assumption that the concentration of aqueous copper ions will increase if copper-coated materials on a metal canister are corroded, we examined some characteristic ion-exchanges and cation release phenomena occurring in the bentonite clay (montmorillonite) interacted with aqueous Cu cations. During the interaction between dissolved copper and bentonite, Na rather than Ca cations in the expandable clay were preferentially replaced by Cu ions in the experiment. In addition, the Cu-exchanged montmorillonite was characterized by an asymmetric X-ray diffracted pattern with relatively collapsed interlayers compared to the raw sample. These results indicate that the gradual change of the original bentonite property may occur in a underground disposal condition. We are going to further study the characteristic chemical and mineralogical changes of the bentonite buffer to be used for the disposal site by conducting additional experiments.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.171-177
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• 1993

In decontamination process to remove radioactive materials of reactor cooling system, the metal ions dissolved by organic acids in decontamination solution are separated by use of ion exchange resin in the column. However, organic acids in decontamination solution decrease the apparent affinity of the resin to metal ions. In light of this, some experiments were carried out on the Amberlite IRN-77 cation resin with cobalt and iron to gain a better understanding of the complexation effects on the ion exchange process. Experimental results showed that EDTA among organic acids used as chemical decontaminants predominantly caused reduction of ion exchange capacity of cobaltous ion to resin since this reagent formed the complex with the cobaltous ion stronger than that with the ferrous ion. In contrast, the effects of oxalic acid and citric acid were found to be negligible. And, single and two-component nonlinear equilibrium relationships of the metal ions were established using experimental data.