• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.328-336
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• 2020

Cesium is a major product of uranium fission, which is the most commonly existed radionuclide in radioactive wastes. Various technologies have been applied to separate radioactive cesium from radioactive wastes, such as chemical precipitation, solvent extraction, membrane separation and adsorption. Crown ethers and calixarenes derivatives can selectively coordinate with cesium ions by ion-dipole interaction or cation-π interaction, which are promising extractants for cesium ions due to their promising coordinating structure. This review systematically summarized and analyzed the recent advances in the crown ethers and calixarenes derivatives for cesium separation, especially focusing on the adsorbents based on extractants for cesium removal from aqueous solution, such as the grafting coordinating groups (e.g. crown ether and calixarenes) and coordinating polymers (e.g. MOFs) due to their unique coordination ability and selectivity for cesium ions. These adsorbents combined the advantages of extraction and adsorption methods and showed high adsorption capacity for cesium ions, which are promising for cesium separation The key restraints for cesium separation, as well as the newest progress of the adsorbents for cesium separation were also discussed. Finally, some concluding remarks and suggestions for future researches were proposed.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.179-186
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• 2006

Chemical wastes are generated from nuclear facilities and R&D laboratories, but the uranium concentration in the final dried cake is evaluated into 11.2 Bq/g, which exceeds the exemption level of 10 Bq/g for each U isotopes, so the cake is categorized into a radioactive waste. Acid dissolution was applied to extract uranium from the waste sludge, and uranium adsorption on the dissolved solution was experimented by using IRN-77 and Diphosil bead. A large amount of resin was required to get above 80% of uranium removal, which was found to be due to a large amount of metal ions simultaneously dissolved from the precipitates with uranium. As an alternative method, acid dissolution is applied to the dewatered wet cake of the sludge, and the natural evaporation method is adopted for the dissolved solution. The uranium concentration of the dissolved solution was estimated to be 6.97E-01 Bq/ml, and the specific activity of the final waste sheets is evaluated to be 4.3 Bq/g. These results lead to the suggestion that the application of acid dissolution to the wet cake and the natural evaporation for the dissolved solution is an effective treatment method for chemical wastes containing uranium.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.205-210
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• 2005

The proposed regulation for low and intermediate level radioactive waste disposal facility, scheduled to be revised, recommends that the waste generator should verify the radioactive waste conforms to the disposal requirements before disposing of it. According to the regulation, the radionuclide concentration of the radioactive waste, and its physical and chemical characteristics and safety must be confirmed prior to the disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes, and the waste generator is required to deliver this information to the disposal facility operator. In addition, the disposal facility operator must assess the safety of the disposal site to establish the SWAC (Site Specific Waste Acceptance Criteria) in consideration of the characteristics of the site, whereas the waste generator must comply with the criteria in managing, disposing of and delivering low and intermediate level radioactive wastes. To abide by the afore-mentioned regulation and criteria, the waste generator must verify that the radioactive wastes to be disposed of are suitable for disposal before they are transported to the disposal facility, and to this end a radioactive waste certification program must be developed. This study conducted an in-depth analysis of the radioactive waste certification programs enforced in countries advanced in atomic energy to develop a draft of a certification program applicable to local power plants, and the program is currently applied as pilot to Uljin Power Plants No. 1 & 2 to prove its applicability. This study is going to analyze the results of the pilot application with a view to developing a radioactive waste certification program suitable to local conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.51-54
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• 1973

The use of ion-exchange resins for the treatment of radioactive wastes has many advantages, but thes eare rather expensive as compared with the Korean vermiculite. The Korean vermiculite has slightly different chemical constituents from the ones produced in other countries, and its physical properties might be applicable to the management of radioactive waste, in a small nuclear installation. The decontaminating effect of Korean vermiculite for the low-level radioactive liquid was investigated. $^{106}Ru,\;^{90}Sr,\;and\;^{137}Cs$ were utilized for the experiments. The removal rates by Korean vermiculite were calculated for $^{106}Ru,\;^{90}Sr\;and\;^{137}Cs$ and the removal rates increased as the weight of vermiculite in the exchange column increased. The decontaminating constants, $K_d$ of the Korean vermiculite for $^{106}Ru,\;^{90}Sr\;and\;^{137}Cs$ were 2.7, 69.3 and 263ml/g respectively. Through the results of experiments, the application of Korean vermiculite column to the treatment of low-level radioactive waste is quite feasible.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.515-518
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• 1997

Resident time of the centrifugal extractor for organic phase extraction using a height controlled separator weir and a divert plate is the important factor that affects significantly the chemical material extraction and the productivity in the chemical and mechanical processes. In this paper, it describes the design of the device for extraction of an organic phase from radioactive wastes, and considers phase separating weir and divert disk, both being designed to be adjustable in their positions, for effectively separating an organic phase. A height-adjustable separating weir unit used for separating the organic phase from the aqueous phase using a phase separating weir and designed to control the height of the separating weir as desired so as to allow the weir to be positioned at a boundary layer between two separated phases. The centrifugal extractor controls satisfactorily the mixed reaction time of two phases within the separator regardless of the variations of the mixing ratio of the two phases and the rotating speed of the extractor, is designed to be adjustable in its position in the vertical direction, thus allowing the user to appropriately select the mixed reaction time of the two phases within the extractor as desired. From development of a centrifugal extractor, it can effectively recover such usable elements, and preferably reducing the output quantity of radioactive wastes.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.22-28
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• 2001

Recovery of silver in the spent solution generated from MEO(Mediated Electrochemical Oxidation) process, which is a process to decompose radioactive organic mixed wastes at low temperature, was performed using chemical method. Silver nitrate in 5M nitric acid solution could be completely recovered as AgCl by using 1% excess of the stoichiometric HCl equivalents. Then, AgCl was transformed to Ag metal by reduction reaction with hydrogen peroxide under alkaline media. The optimum pH for the reduction to silver metal was found to be in the range of 12.8∼13.0.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.22-27
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• 1997

Recycling of radioactively contaminated metal wasles is very attractive to reduce thc final disposal volumc of the radioactive wastes, thereby maximizing the usage of nahrral rzsuunts and minimizmg the detrimental effects of thz rzdioaclive wastes on the environment. In the recycling process, many complicated processes arc involved. Among those processes the 'surface contamination removal techniques such as physical, chemical and electrochern~calm ethods are the most critical and Ircquently applied in accordance with the contamination characteristics and the chemical compositions of the metal wastes. In this sludy, the sulfuric acid-cerium method and electmchemical methods were applied lu removc the conatiminated suhce. The results showed the surface contaminalion could he lowered to the background levcl by lhasc mclhods.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.352-366
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• 2022

Nuclear power plant operations for electricity generation, rare-earth mining, nuclear medical research, and nuclear weapons reprocessing considerably increase radioactive waste, necessitating massive efforts to eradicate radioactive waste from aquatic environments. Cobalt (⁵⁸Co) and strontium (⁹⁰Sr) radioactive elements have been extensively employed in energy generation, nuclear weapon testing, and the manufacture of healthcare products. The erroneous discharge of these elements as pollutants into the aquatic system, radiation emissions, and long-term disposal is extremely detrimental to humans and aquatic biota. Numerous methods for treating radioactive waste-contaminated water have emerged, among which the adsorption process has been promoted for its efficacy in eliminating radioactive waste from aquatic habitats. The current review discusses the adsorptive removal of radioactive waste from aqueous solutions using low-cost adsorbents, such as graphene oxide, metal-organic frameworks, and inorganic metal oxides, as well as their composites. The chemical modification of adsorbents to increase their removal efficiency is also discussed. Finally, the current state of ⁵⁸Co and ⁹⁰Sr removal performances is summarized and the efficiencies of various adsorbents are compared.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.524-531
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• 2003

The usefulness of vitrification technology for low- and intermediate- level radioactive wastes was demonstrated because of high volume reduction, mechanical and chemical stability of final waste forms. Thus, a construction of the commercial vitrification plant Is currently promoted. Due to the high radiation level of the waste, shielding analysis has to be carried out for safe design in a vitrification facility. Because there has been no experience in the construction and operation of the vitrification facility in Korea, in this study, in order to get some information for help the detailed design and plan for operation in vitrification facility, shielding analysis for each facility in pilot plant is carried out by using source term from established study. For the selection of the shielding material, concrete was chosen compared to the lead because of economic advantage, weight consideration, and thermal resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.105-110
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• 2020

Radioactive Oxides are formed on the surface of the primary equipment in a nuclear power plant. In order to remove the oxide film that is formed on the surfaces of the equipment, chemical and physical decontamination technologies are used. The disadvantage of traditional technologies is that they produce secondary radioactive wastes. Therefore, in this study, the short-pulsed laser eco-friendly technology was used in order to reduce production of the secondary radioactive wastes. They were also used to minimize the damages that were caused on the base material and to remove the contaminated oxide film. The study was carried out using a Stainless steel 304 specimen that was coated with nickel-ferrite particles. Further, the laser source was selected with two different wavelengths. Furthermore, the depth of the coating layer was analyzed using a 3D laser microscope by changing the laser ablation conditions. Based on the analysis, the optimal conditions of ablation were determined using a 1064nm short-pulsed laser ablation technique in order to remove the radioactively contaminated oxide film from the irradiated stainless steel surface.