Organic sorbents like peat can be successfully used for the purification of radioactive waste waters and are favoured by economical and technical considerations. The peat filters are also friendlier to the environment, since the manufacturing of such filters is a low emission process. This study examined the sorption of radionuclides 137Cs, 55Fe, 63Ni and 14C on peat samples. The initial radioactivity of the peat samples was studied before the experiments. Peat samples were taken from different bogs. Radionuclide solutions were prepared using deionised water and appropriate radionuclide composition from the Salaspils research reactor stock water. It was found that in all cases of peat samples, the main natural radionuclides were 210Pb, 40K and 214Bi. The artificial radionuclides 152Eu, 137Cs and 60Co were also found in the peat samples. Radionuclide sorption studies indicated that the initial radioactivity of the solution decreased in the case of radionuclides 63Ni, 14C, 55Fe and 137Cs. This confirmed that peat samples can effectively remove the radionuclides from radioactive water solutions.
Radionuclide Sorption Studies on Abyssal Red Clays
