Cesium from nuclear fuel waste

There are many examples of the studies on SLM for nuclear applications in the literature. SLMs were tested for high-level radioactive waste treatment combined with removal of actinides and other fission products from the effluents from nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. The recovery of the species, such as uranium, plutonium, thorium, americium, cerium, europium, strontium, and cesium, was investigated in vari-ons extracting-stripping systems. Selective permeation... 

The counting techniques described in this paper are also readily applicable to studies of "hot radioactive waste (z.e.j radioactive waste from reprocessed nuclear fuel). With this type of material, the cesium can be analyzed as 30-y (662-keV y), the RE as 13-y Eu (964-keV and 1408-keV y), strontium as 28-y Sr (after chemical separation and beta counting), and the actinides by group separation and alpha counting. 

Radioisotope Scavenging. Clinoptilolite has a relatively high Si/Al ratio and has the ability to scavenge cesium radioisotopes from aqueous nuclear wastes. An example of its industrial-scale use is in the development of the site ion-exchange effluent plant (SIXEP) by British Nuclear Fuels at their Sellafield site. This uses a clinoptilohte, from Mud Hills, California, and meets the stringent performance requirements. The Cs selectivity of clinoptilolite has led to its possible use to reduce Cs radioisotope body burdens in sheep, and mordenite has been studied for the same use in reindeer. Mordenite also has been used to treat aqueous nuclear waste, as has an acid washed chabazite (AW500). 

Radioactive wastes come directly from nuclear-reactor-fuel reprocessing plants and from industries employing radioactivity for processing work. The dominating elements from nuclear reactor fuels are cesium 137 and strontium 90, with the latter th,e controlling isotope owing to low permissible concentration values (Table 10-2). Rodger cites an example to illustrate the severity of the problem. In the year a.d. 2000 the installed reactor capacity on a world-wide basis is predicted to be 2.2 X 10 Mw. If this system is operated for 50 years, the Sr steady-state level (rate of production = rate of decay) would be 8.6 X 10 curies, which would require 5 per cent of the entire world ocean volume to dilute to the maxi-... 

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