USE OF A CHARCOAL TO ELIMINATE RADIOACTIVECATIONS OF MAN-MADE ORIGIN IN NATURALWATERS

摘要

We analysed the use of a granular charcoal to eliminate the radionuclides 90Sr and 137Cs present in solution in a natural water.The water studied was that normally used as the drinking supply for the city of Cáceres (Spain). We studied the efficacy ofthe elimination as a function of varying two key decontamination parameters – the volume of water passing through thecharcoal filtration bed and the contact time between the charcoal and the radioactively contaminated natural water. Theresults indicated that, with small volumes of water, the elimination of 137Cs was good (ca. 90%) but, under the sameconditions, that of 90Sr was significantly poorer (ca. 25%), with the behaviour of this latter radionuclide being similar to thatwe had observed for 226Ra in previous studies. With respect to the contact time, increases in this variable led to increases inelimination capacity for both radionuclides.