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Options for the Removal of Cesium and Strontium from Acidic Uranyl Sulfate Solutions from Molybdenum-99 Production

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1891250· OSTI ID:1891250
 [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)
A small laboratory-scale column process aimed at removing fission products from prototypical acidic sulfate solution wastes from a prototypical Mo-99 recovery process has been operated in a radioactive materials hood at Savannah River National Laboratory. This equipment has been operated with realistic concentrations of uranium (0.4 wt % 235U), plutonium (239Pu), neptunium (237Np), non-radioactive surrogates of common fission products (including Cs and Sr) and two promising absorbents AMP-PAN and CST R91290-B. The goal of this work was to demonstrate the removal and concentration of high specific activity isotopes which are expected to dominate the classification of the low-level waste from the production of 99Mo. Both AMP-PAN and CST R9120-B are attractive absorbents for the removal of 137Cs from an acidic sulfate waste stream. They do not provide a solution for the removal of 90Sr from the acidic solutions, but CST should be investigated at a higher pH. Limited removal of transuranic species and almost no removal of uranium was observed in this testing. This could be important due to the relatively large amount of uranium expected to be present in such waste streams. The capacity of these absorbents for 137Cs will likely be dependent on the Cs concentration in the solutions processed but loading in the range of 0.2 to 5 mg Cs per gram of absorbent appears to be achievable.
Research Organization:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Savannah River National Lab (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
DOE Contract Number:
89303321CEM000080
OSTI ID:
1891250
Report Number(s):
SRNL-STI-2022-00365
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English