A PHENOLIC RESIN ION EXCHANGE PROCESS FOR DECONTAMINATING LOW-RADIOACTIVITY-LEVEL PROCESS WATER WASTES

摘要

A process was developed on a laboratory scale to decontaminate large volumes of low-radioactivity-level process water wastes having a macro-chemical composition not very different from tap water but containing more than the maximum permissible concentration of radioisotopes for unrestricted discharge. The water is adjusted to 0.01 M NaOH (pH slightly under 12), clarified to remove the small amount of solids, and passed through a bed of phenolic cation exchange resin. With typical Oak Ridge National Laboratory waste, when the water is made alkaline, more than half the radioactivity is removed by coprecipitation with the calcium and magnesium already present and most of the remaining radioactivity is removed by the resin.