Radiocesium removal from high level liquid waste and immobilisation in sodium silicotitanate for geological disposal

2001 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Tomasberger ◽  
A.C. Veltkamp ◽  
A. S. Booij ◽  
U. W. Scherer
Keyword(s):  
Ion Exchange ◽  
Fission Product ◽  
Liquid Waste ◽  
High Level Liquid Waste ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Inorganic Ion ◽  
Exchange Material ◽  
Leaching Behaviour ◽  
Concentration Factors ◽  
High Level

The isolation of the fission product cesium from high-level alkaline liquid waste is studied with inorganic ion-exchange materials. High separation and concentration factors can be obtained using sodium silicotitanate (CST). The leaching behaviour of cesium from CST was studied in clay porewater and Quinary brine at 90 °C. It is shown that cesium leaching in Quinary brine can be drastically reduced by thermal treatment of cesium loaded CST above 1000 °C. To this end, neutralisation of the ion exchange material before heating is required in order to reduce cesium volatility. It is concluded that CST is a good candidate material for geological disposal of the fission product cesium.

Innovative Highly Selective Removal of Cesium and Strontium Utilizing a Newly Developed Class of Inorganic Ion Specific Media

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark S. Denton ◽  
Mercouri G. Kanatzidis
Keyword(s):  
Ion Exchange ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Liquid Waste ◽  
Selective Removal ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Ion Exchangers ◽  
Inorganic Ion Exchangers ◽  
Inorganic Ion ◽  
High Level

Highly selective removal of Cesium and Strontium is critical for waste treatment and environmental remediation. Cesium-137 is a beta-gamma emitter and Strontium-90 is a beta emitter with respective half-lives of 30 and 29 years. Both elements are present at many nuclear sites. Cesium and Strontium can be found in wastewaters at Washington State’s Hanford Site, as well as in wastestreams of many Magnox reactor sites. Cesium and Strontium are found in the Reactor Coolant System of light water reactors at nuclear power plants. Both elements are also found in spent nuclear fuel and in high-level waste (HLW) at DOE sites. Cesium and Strontium are further major contributors to the activity and the heat load. Therefore, technologies to extract Cesium and Strontium are critical for environmental remediation waste treatment and dose minimization. Radionuclides such as Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 are key drivers of liquid waste classification at light water reactors and within the DOE tank farm complexes. The treatment, storage, and disposal of these wastes represents a major cost for nuclear power plant operators, and comprises one of the most challenging technology-driven projects for the DOE Environmental Management (EM) program. Extraction technologies to remove Cesium and Strontium have been an active field of research. Four notable extraction technologies have been developed so far for HLW: solvent extraction, prussian blue, crystalline silicotitanate (CST) and organic ion-exchangers (e.g., resorcinol formaldehyde and SuperLig). The use of one technology over another depends on the specific application. For example, the waste treatment plant (WTP) at Hanford is planning on using a highly-selective organic ion-exchange resin to remove Cesium and Strontium. Such organic ion-exchangers use molecular recognition to selectively bind to Cesium and Strontium. However, these organic ion-exchangers are synthesized using multi-step organic synthesis. The associated cost to synthesize organic ion-exchangers is prohibitive and seriously limits the scope of applications for organic ion-exchangers. Further issues include resin swelling, potential hydrogen generation and precluding final disposal by vitrification without further issues. An alternative to these issues of organic ion-exchangers is emerging. Inorganic ion-exchangers offer a superior chemical, thermal and radiation stability which is simply not achievable with organic compounds. They can be used to remove both Cesium as well as Strontium with a high level of selectivity under a broad pH range. Inorganic ion-exchangers can operate at acidic pH where protons inhibit ion exchange in alternative technologies such as CST. They can also be used at high pH which is typically found in conditions present in many nuclear waste types. For example, inorganic ion-exchangers have shown significant Strontium uptake from pH 1.9 to 14. In contrast to organic ion-exchangers, inorganic ion-exchangers are not synthesized via complex multi-step organic synthesis. Therefore, inorganic ion-exchangers are substantially more cost-effective when compared to organic ion-exchangers as well as CST. Selective removal of specified isotopes through ion exchange is a common and proven treatment method for liquid waste, yet various aspects of existing technologies leave room for improvement with respect to both cost and effectiveness. We demonstrate a novel class of inorganic ion-exchangers for the selective removal of cesium and strontium (with future work planned for uranium removal), the first of a growing family of patent-pending, potentially elutable, and paramagnetic ion-exchange materials [1]. These highly selective inorganic ion-exchangers display strong chemical, thermal and radiation stability, and can be readily synthesized from low-cost materials, making them a promising alternative to organic ion-exchange resins and crystalline silicotitanate (CST). By nature, these inorganic media lend themselves more readily to volume reduction (VR) by vitrification without the issues faced with organic resins. In fact, with a simple melting of the KMS-1 media at 650–670 deg. C (i.e., well below the volatilization temperature of Cs, Sr, Mn, Fe, Sb, etc.), a VR of 4:1 was achieved. With true pyrolysis at higher temperatures or by vitrification, this VR would be much higher. The introduction of this new family of highly specific ion-exchange agents has potential to both reduce the cost of waste processing, and enable improved waste-classification management in both nuclear power plants (for the separation of Class A from B/C wastes) and DOE tank farms [for the separation of low level waste (LLW) from high level waste (HLW)]. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time a novel inorganic ion-exchanger for the selective removal of Cesium and Strontium. These inorganic ion-exchangers are chemical, thermal and radiation stable. These inorganic ion-exchangers can be synthesized in a cost-effective way which makes them significantly more effective than organic ion-exchange resin and CST. Finally, new thermal options are afforded for their final volume reduction, storage and disposal.

scholarly journals Development of MA separation process with TEHDGA/SiO2-P for an advanced reprocessing

2021 ◽  
Vol 330 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-244
Author(s):  
Yusuke Horiuchi ◽  
Sou Watanabe ◽  
Yuichi Sano ◽  
Masayuki Takeuchi ◽  
Fukuka Kida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fission Product ◽  
Distribution Ratio ◽  
Extraction Chromatography ◽  
Packed Column ◽  
Liquid Waste ◽  
Separation Process ◽  
Minor Actinide ◽  
High Level Liquid Waste ◽  
Column Separation ◽  
High Level

AbstractApplicability of tetra2-ehylhexyl diglycolamide (TEHDGA) impregnated adsorbent for minor actinide (MA) recovery from high level liquid waste (HLLW) in extraction chromatography technology was investigated through batch-wise adsorption and column separation experiments. Distribution ratio of representative fission product elements were obtained by the batch-wise experiments, and TEHDGA adsorbent was shown to be preferable to TODGA adsorbent for decontamination of several species. All Ln(III) supplied into the TEHDGA adsorbent packed column was properly eluted from the column, and the applicability of the adsorbent was successfully showed by this study.

scholarly journals Vitrification of HLW Produced by Uranium/Molybdenum Fuel Reprocessing in COGEMA’s Cold Crucible Melter

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Do Quang ◽  
V. Petitjean ◽  
F. Hollebecque ◽  
O. Pinet ◽  
T. Flament ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Energy Commission ◽  
Liquid Waste ◽  
Glass Layer ◽  
Cold Crucible ◽  
High Level Liquid Waste ◽  
Process Waste ◽  
Glass Formulation ◽  
High Level ◽  
Fuel Reprocessing ◽  
High Frequency Induction

The performance of the vitrification process currently used in the La Hague commercial reprocessing plants has been continuously improved during more than ten years of operation. In parallel COGEMA (industrial Operator), the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and SGN (respectively COGEMA’s R&D provider and Engineering) have developed the cold crucible melter vitrification technology to obtain greater operating flexibility, increased plant availability and further reduction of secondary waste generated during operations. The cold crucible is a compact water-cooled melter in which the radioactive waste and the glass additives are melted by direct high frequency induction. The cooling of the melter produces a soldified glass layer that protects the melter’s inner wall from corrosion. Because the heat is transferred directly to the melt, high operating temperatures can be achieved with no impact on the melter itself. COGEMA plans to implement the cold crucible technology to vitrify high level liquid waste from reprocessed spent U-Mo-Sn-Al fuel (used in gas cooled reactor). The cold crucible was selected for the vitrification of this particularly hard-to-process waste stream because it could not be reasonably processed in the standard hot induction melters currently used at the La Hague vitrification facilities: the waste has a high molybdenum content which makes it very corrosive and also requires a special high temperature glass formulation to obtain sufficiently high waste loading factors (12% in molybednum). A special glass formulation has been developed by the CEA and has been qualified through lab and pilot testing to meet standard waste acceptance criteria for final disposal of the U-Mo waste. The process and the associated technologies have been also being qualified on a full-scale prototype at the CEA pilot facility in Marcoule. Engineering study has been integrated in parallel in order to take into account that the Cold Crucible should be installed remotely in one of the R7 vitrification cell. This paper will present the results obtained in the framework of these qualification programs.

Agents and Processes Design for TRU Elements Back Extraction in TRPO Process

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Wei ◽  
Xuegang Liu ◽  
Jing Chen
Keyword(s):  
Organic Phase ◽  
Liquid Waste ◽  
Back Extraction ◽  
High Level Liquid Waste ◽  
Trpo Process ◽  
Extraction Processes ◽  
Treatment And Disposal ◽  
High Level ◽  
Disposal Cost

To reduce the long-term risk of the high-level liquid waste (HLLW) and the waste disposal cost, transuranium (TRU) elements should be removed from HLLW. A so-called TRPO process has been developed by Chinese scientists to partition HLLW. In this process, the extractant, trialkyl phosphine oxide (TRPO), is able to extract TRU elements into organic phase completely, which makes the treatment and disposal of raffinate HLLW much easier. However, the treatment of extracted TRU elements in organic phase, in return, becomes new troublesome issue. Generally, there are three promising ways to treat the extracted TRU elements: (1)transmutation; (2)conditioning; (3)recycling U+Pu in Purex-TRPO Integrated Process. In any of the three ways, the back extraction agents and processes play significant roles. In this paper, the investigations on back extraction agents for TRU elements, such as TTHA, DTPA, AHA, HEDPA, DOGA, and carbonates are introduced. The corresponding back extraction processes and experimental results are reviewed.

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