Silver-based getters for 129I removal from low-activity waste
-
R. Matthew Asmussen
,
James J. Neeway
Abstract
A prominent radionuclide of concern in nuclear wastes, 129I, is present in low-activity wastes (LAW) at the Hanford site. Several Ag-containing materials were tested as immobilization agents, or “getters”, for I (as iodide, I−) removal from deionized (DI) water and a liquid LAW simulant: Ag impregnated activate carbon (Ag–C), Ag exchanged zeolite (Ag–Z), and argentite. In anoxic batch experiments with DI water, the Ag–C and argentite were most effective, with maximum Kd values of 6.2 × 105 mL/g for the Ag–C and 3.7 × 105 mL/g for the argentite after 15 days. Surface area and Ag content were found to influence the performance of the getters in DI water. In the anoxic batch experiments with LAW simulant, Ag–Z vastly outperformed the other getters with Kd values of 2.2 × 104 mL/g at 2 h, which held steady until 15 days, compared with 1.8 × 103 mL/g reached at 15 days by the argentite. All getters were stable over long periods of time (i.e. 40 days) in DI water, while the Ag–Z and argentite were also stable in the LAW simulant. Ag–Z was found to have consistent I removal upon crushing to a smaller particle size and in the presence of O2, making it a strong candidate for the treatment of LAW containing I.
Acknowledgments
This work was completed as part of the Supplemental Immobilization of Hanford Low-Activity Waste project with Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS). Support for this project came from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environment Management. The authors wish to thank David Swanberg of WRPS for continued support, the analytical staff in the Environmental Sciences Lab at PNNL and the staff at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab (EMSL) at PNNL. A. Wilson participated in this work as part of the U.S. D.O.E. Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Influence of the goethite (α-FeOOH) surface on the stability of distorted PuO2 and PuO2–x phases
- Photoreduction of Pu(V,VI) by TiO2
- Experimental measurements of U24Py nanocluster behavior in aqueous solution
- Comparision in the solvent extraction behavior of uranium (VI) in some trialkyl phosphates in ionic liquid
- Sorption behavior of cesium, cobalt and europium radionuclides onto hydroxyl magnesium silicate
- Separation of no-carrier-added 203Pb, a surrogate radioisotope, from proton irradiated natTl2CO3 target using calcium alginate hydrogel beads
- Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of no-carrier-added 2-(3-(4-(4-[18F]fluorobenzyl)piperazin-1-yl)propyl)benzo[d]thiazole, a potential dopamine D4 receptor radioligand
- Silver-based getters for 129I removal from low-activity waste
