Removal of Radionuclides from Fukushima Daiichi Waste Effluents

This paper describes the processes used at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan, to purify the waste effluents generated in the cooling of damaged reactors. These include primary cesium removal with the Kurion zeolite system and the SARRY system utilizing silicotitanate to remove radiocesium from water recirculated to reactors for cooling. Another process is the ALPS system to purify the retentates of the reverse osmosis plant to further purify the water from radionuclides after primary cesium separation. In ALPS, a major role is played by the transition metal hexacyanoferrate product CsTreat and sodium titanate SrTreat in the removal of radiocesium and radiostrontium, respectively. The performance of these four exchangers (zeolite, silicotitanate, hexacyanoferrate, and sodium titanate) is critically analyzed with respect to processing capacities and the decontamination factors obtained in the processes. Furthermore, general information on preparation, structure and ion exchange of these ion-exchanger categories is given with additional information on their use in nuclear waste effluent treatment processes. Finally, the importance of selectivity and associated factors are discussed.Peer reviewe

Use of Novel Highly Selective Ion Exchange Media for Minimizing the Waste Arising from Different NPP and Other Liquids

Highly selective inorganic ion exchangers give new possibilities to implement and operate new innovative treatment systems for radioactive liquids. Because of high selectivity these ion exchangers can be used even in liquids of high salt concentrations. Only selected target nuclides will be separated and inactive salts are left in the liquid, which can be released or recategorized. Thus, it is possible to reduce the volume of radioactive waste dramatically. On the other hand, only a small volume of highly selective material is required in applications, which makes it possible to design totally new types of compact treatment systems. The major benefit of selective ion exchange media comes from the very large volume reduction of radioactive waste in final disposal. It is also possible to save in investment costs, because small ion exchanger volumes can be used and handled in a very small facility. This paper describes different applications of these highly selective ion exchangers, both commercial fullscale applications and laboratory tests, to give the idea of their efficiency for different liquids