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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

THE REMOVAL OF CESIUM-137 AND STRONTIUM-90 FROM SCAVENGED BISMUTH PHOSPHATE SOLUTIONS

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4266701
The passage of a scavenged first-cycle waste solution through a soil representative of the Hanford project reduced the Sr/sup 90/ content of at least five column volumes of effluent solution below the detection limits for the analytical procedures employed. This reduction was effected equally well in synthetic and process bismuth phosphate waste solutions. The removal of Cs/sup 137/ from a first-cycle waste solution, synthetic or process, by passage through a column of a representative Hanford project soil was less efficient than for Sr/sup 90/. A breakthrough of Cs/sup 137/ was obtained generally within one to four column volumes of effluent. The concentration of Cs/sup 137/ in the influent solutions usually was of the same order of magnitude as the Handbook 52 MPC for drinking water. Consequently the relatively high C/C/sub o/ values for Cs/sup 137/ in the effluents represented concentrations of less than one- tenth the MPC value. The volume of scavenged first cycle waste solution which may be disposed safely to ground is dependent on the Cs/sup 137/ content of the waste in question. Three, and perhaps five, column volumes of the scavenged bismuth phosphate waste solution can be disposed to ground. To date all available field data corroborate laboratory estimates of the removal of Cs/sup 137/ and Sr/sup 90/ from scavenged bismuth phosphate waste solutions by soil. (auth)
Research Organization:
General Electric Co. Hanford Atomic Products Operation, Richland, Wash.
NSA Number:
NSA-13-012537
OSTI ID:
4266701
Report Number(s):
HW-48141
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English