• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2022

Liquid Bi pool is a candidate electrode for an electrometallurgical process in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic to treat the spent nuclear fuels from nuclear power plants. The electrochemical behavior of Bi³⁺ ions and the electrode reaction on liquid Bi pool were investigated with the cyclic voltammetry in an environment with or without BiCl₃ in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. Experimental results showed that two redox reactions of Bi³⁺ on inert W electrode and the shift of cathodic peak potentials of Li⁺ and Bi³⁺ on liquid Bi pool electrode in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. It is confirmed that the redox reaction of lithium with respect to the liquid Bi pool electrode would occur in a wide range of potentials in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. The obtained data will be used to design the electrometallurgical process for treating actinide and lanthanide from the spent nuclear fuels and to understand the electrochemical reactions of actinide and lanthanide at liquid Bi pool electrode in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.701-706
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• 2003

A study on the electrosorption of U(VI) onto porous activated carbon fibers (ACFs) was performed to treat uranium-containing lagoon sludge. Effective U(Ⅵ) removal is accomplished when a negative potential is applied to the activated carbon fiber(ACF) electrode. For a feed concentration of 100mg/L, the concentration of U(VI) in the cell effluent is reduced to less than 1mg/L. The adsorbed uranium could be deserted from the ACF by passing a 1M NaCl solution through the cell and applying a positive potential onto the electrode. The regeneration of ACF from the cycling experiments was confirmed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.93-100
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• 2014

The paper deals with the application of radio isotopic non-destructive technique in the characterization of two industrial grade anion exchange resins Indion GS-300 and Indion-860. For the characterization of the two resins, $^{131}I$ and $^{82}Br$ were used as tracer isotopes to trace the kinetics of iodide and bromide ion-isotopic exchange reactions. It was observed that the values of specific reaction rate ($min^{-1}$), amount of iodide ion exchanged (mmol), initial rate of iodide ion exchange (mmol/min) and log $K_d$ were calculated as 0.328, 0.577, 0.189 and 19.7 respectively for Indion GS-300 resin, which was higher than the respective values of 0.180, 0.386, 0.070 and 17.0 calculated for Indion-860 resins when measured under identical experimental conditions. Also at a constant temperature of $40.0^{\circ}C$, as the concentration of labeled iodide ion solution increases 0.001 M to 0.004 M, the percentage of iodide ions exchanged increases from 75.16 % to 78.36 % for Indion GS-300 resins, which was higher than the increases from 49.65 % to 52.36 % compared to that obtained for Indion-860 resins. The overall results indicate that under identical experimental conditions, Indion GS-300 resins show superior performance over Indion-860 resins.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.2926-2936
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• 2021

Rare-earth (RE) industries generate a massive amount of radioactive residue containing high thorium concentrations. Due to the fact that thorium is considered a non-economic element, large volume of these RE processed residues are commonly disposed of without treatment. It is essential to study an appropriate treatment that could reduce the volume of waste for final disposition. To this end, this research investigates the applicability of carbon-based adsorbent in separating thorium from aqueous phase sulphate is obtained from the cracking and leaching process of solid rare-earth by-product residue. Adsorption of thorium from the aqueous phase sulphate by carbon-based electrodes was investigated through electrosorption experiments conducted at a duration of 180 minutes with a positive potential variable range of +0.2V to +0.6V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Through this research, the specific capacity obtained was equivalent to 1.0 to 5.14 mg-Th/g-Carbon. Furthermore, electrosorption of thorium ions from aqueous phase sulphate is found to be most favorable at a higher positive potential of +0.6V (vs. Ag/AgCl). This study's findings elucidate the removal of thorium from the rare-earth residue by carbon-based electrodes and simultaneously its potential to reduce disposal waste of untreated residue.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.323-330
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• 2021

Silver tellurite glasses with melting temperature of approximately 700℃ were developed to immobilize ¹²⁹I wastes. Long-term dissolution tests in 0.1 M acetic acid and disposability assessment were conducted to evaluate sustainability of the glasses. Leaching rate of Te, Bi and I from the glasses decreased for up to 16 d, then remained stable afterwards. On the contrary, tens to tens of thousands of times more of Ag was leached in comparison to the other elements; additionally, Ag leached continuously for all 128 d of the test owing to the exchange of Ag⁺ and H⁺ ions between the glasses and solution. The I leached much lower than those of other elements even though it leached ~10 times more in 0.1 M acetic acid than in deionized water. Some TeO₄ units in the glass network were transformed to TeO₃ by ion exchange and hydrolysis. These silver tellurite glasses met all waste acceptance criteria for disposal in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 1970

Formation of the complexes of alkaline earths with citrate ions in aqueous, acetone-water and ethanol-water solutions was studied at room temperature by the equilibrium exchange technique. This technique involved the measurements of distribution of radioactivity between cation exchange resin and solution phase after the radioactive metal ions were equilibriated with the cation exchange resin in the presence of citrate ions ($Cit^{3-}$) 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 0.10-0.12. The present study revealed that both barium and strontium ions formed the one to one citrate complexes, $[M Cit]^-$ in all solvent systems examined. It was also observed that calcium ions formed the one to one citrate complex in aqueous solution. In acetone-water and ethanol-water solutions, however, calcium ions were observed to form both one to one and one to two complexes, $[Ca Cit]^-$ and $[Ca\;Cit_2]^{4-}$. The results of the present study indicated also that relative stabilities of the complexes increased in the order; $Ba^{++}\;<\;Sr^{++}\;<\;Ca^{++}$, and in the order of increasing concentration of the organic components in the mixed solvent systems.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1201-1207
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• 2020

This study explored whether MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x) could remove radioactive Cs⁺ from model nuclear wastewater. Various adsorption tests were performed and the physical aspects of the interaction were investigated. We varied the MXene dosage, Cs⁺ initial concentration, solution pH, solution temperature and exposure time. MXene adsorption exhibited very fast kinetics, based on the fact that equilibrium was achieved within 1 h. MXene exhibited an outstanding adsorption capacity (148 mg g^-1) at adsorbent and adsorbate concentrations of 5 and 2 mg L^-1, respectively, at neutral pH condition (i.e., pH 7). We explored Cs⁺ adsorption by MXene in the presence of four different ions (NaCl, KCl, CaCl₂ and MgCl₂) and three different organic acids (sodium oleate, oxalic acid, and citric acid). The Cs⁺ removal rate changed in the presence of these components; adsorption of Cs⁺ by MXene thus involved ion exchange, supported by both Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We confirmed that MXene was re-usable for at least four cycles. MXene is cost-effective and practical when used to adsorb radionuclides (e.g., Cs⁺) in nuclear wastewater.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.399-409
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• 2018

Prussian blue is known as a superior material for selective adsorption of radioactive cesium ions; however, the separation of Prussian blue from aqueous suspension, due to particle size of around several tens of nanometers, is a hurdle that must be overcome. Therefore, this study aims to develop granule type adsorbent material containing Prussian blue in order to selectively adsorb and remove radioactive cesium in water. The surface of granular activated carbon was grafted using a covalent organic polymer (COP-19) in order to enhance Prussian blue immobilization. To maximize the degree of immobilization and minimize subsequent detachment of Prussian blue, several immobilization pathways were evaluated. As a result, the highest cesium adsorption performance was achieved when Prussian blue was synthesized in-situ without solid-liquid separation step during synthesis. The sample obtained under optimal conditions was further analyzed by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometry, and it was confirmed that Prussian blue, which is about 9.7% of the total weight, was fixed on the surface of the activated carbon; this level of fixing represented a two-fold improvement compared to before COP-19 modification. In addition, an elution test was carried out to evaluate the stability of Prussian blue. Leaching of Prussian blue and cesium decreased by 1/2 and 1/3, respectively, compared to those levels before modification, showing increased stability due to COP-19 grafting. The Prussian blue based adsorbent material developed in this study is expected to be useful as a decontamination material to mitigate the release of radioactive materials.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.67-78
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• 2024

In this study, a nickel hexacyanoferrate and manganese dioxide-polyacrylonitrile (NM-PAN) composite was synthesized and used for the sorptive removal of Co²⁺, Sr²⁺, and Cs⁺ Cs⁺ in radioactive laundry wastewater. Single- and multi-solute competitive sorptions onto NM-PAN were investigated. The Freundlich (Fr), Langmuir (Lang), Kargi-Ozmıhci (K-O), Koble-Corrigan (K-C), and Langmuir-Freundlich (Lang-Fr) models satisfactorily predicted all the single sorption data. The sorption isotherms were nonlinearly favorable (Freundlich coefficient, N_F = 0.385-0.426). Cs⁺ has the highest maximum sorption capacity (q_mL = 0.855 mmol g^-1) for NM-PAN compared to Co²⁺ and Sr²⁺, wherein the primary mechanism was the physical process (mainly ion-exchange). The competition between the metal ions in the binary and ternary systems reduced the respective sorption capacities. Binary and ternary sorption models, such as the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) model coupled with single sorption models of IAST-Fr, IAST-K-O, IAST-K-C and IAST-Lang-Fr, were fitted to the experimental data; among these, the IAST-Freundlich model showed the most satisfactory prediction for the binary and ternary systems. The presence of cationic surfactants highly affected the sorption on NM-PAN due to the increase in distribution coefficients (K_d) of Co²⁺ and Cs⁺.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.265-274
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• 1995

Diffusivity of ions of radioactive species is an important factor for designing radwaste repositories. Clay minerals are used as a backfill material. In this study, diffusion of Co-60 ions through the bentonite having various densities has been studied, using a diffusion cell. The measured diffusivities of Co-60 ions decreased as the density of bentonite increased. The diffusivity of Co-60 ion decreased from $8.79{\times}10^{11}m^2/s$ to $6.82{\times}10-13m^2/s$ as the clay dry bulk density increased from 0.41 to 2.03g/cm3. The diffusivity of Co ion was larger than that of Sr ion at low density, but the diffusivity of Co ion decreased rapidly as the density of clay increased and became smaller than that of Cs ion at high density. This phenomenon is thought to be caused by the rapid decrease of the fraction of mobile cation since the chemical combination of Co ions with oxygen or oxide on clay surface and the entrance of Co ions into the crystal structure of clay increase as the clay density increases. This change should be considered especially in designing the clay back fill for low and intermediate radwaste disposal facilities.