Fission product activities in aged Savannah River Plant waste solutions. [10 years old]
Fission products with activities equal to or greater than 10 nCi/mL were identified in 10-year-old defense waste solutions stored at the Savannah River Plant. Measured activities of /sup 137/Cs, /sup 106/Ru, /sup 90/Sr, /sup 99/Tc, and lanthanide isotopes provided information about fission product distribution between alkaline supernatant solution and insoluble sludge, mainly Fe(OH)/sub 3/. /sup 137/Cs, the principal source of radioactivity (approximately 1 mCi/mL) in solution, was removed by cation exchange resin so that other isotopes could be measured without its interference. /sup 106/Ru was divided almost evenly between sludge and solution (approximately 10/sup -2/ mCi/mL). Ion exchange behavior of the soluble nitrosylruthenium complexes showed that 60% are divalent anions and the rest are probably uncharged. Conversion to anionic sulfide complexes by refluxing the diluted supernate with 0.01 M Na/sub 2/S allowed anion exchange resin to remove >99% of the Ru complexes from solution. /sup 90/Sr activity in supernate (approximately 500 nCi/mL) was 100 times lower than that predicted from the solubility of SrCO/sub 3/, the least soluble Sr salt in the waste. Adsorption of /sup 90/Sr onto sludge accounts for this difference. Ion exchange resins containing chelating groups remove /sup 90/Sr from the supernatant solution. Activity of /sup 99/Tc (approximately 50 nCi/mL) from soluble TcO/sub 4//sup -/ was about half of that expected from fission yields. The remaining Tc is probably insoluble; residues from HNO/sub 3/ dissolution of irradiated UO/sub 2/ fuels contain appreciable amounts of Tc. The combined activity of trivalent lanthanide isotopes, /sup 144/Ce-/sup 144/Pr, /sup 147/Pm, and /sup 151/Sm, (approximately 40 nCi/mL) was many orders of magnitude greater than expected from the solubility of their hydroxides. This enhanced solubility may be caused by the high salt concentration in the waste. 4 tables.
- Research Organization:
- Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-09-0001
- OSTI ID:
- 6570093
- Report Number(s):
- DP-MS-78-30; CONF-780902-13; TRN: 79-001755
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: American Chemical Society meeting, Miami, FL, USA, 10 Sep 1978
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Waste management. Savannah River Laboratory quarterly report, January--March 1975
THE ROLE OF LIQUID WASTE PRETREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES IN SOLVING THE DOE CLEAN-UP MISSION
Related Subjects
CESIUM 137
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVITY
RUTHENIUM 106
STRONTIUM 90
TECHNETIUM 99
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
DECONTAMINATION
FISSION PRODUCTS
ION EXCHANGE
RARE EARTHS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SLUDGES
SOLUTIONS
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM ISOTOPES
CLEANING
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
METALS
MIXTURES
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOISOTOPES
RUTHENIUM ISOTOPES
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing