Use of high gradient magnetic separation for actinide application

摘要

Decontamination of materials such as soils or waste water that contain radioactive isotopes, heavy metals, or hazardous components is a subject of great interest. Magnetic separation is a physical separation process that segregates materials on the basis of magnetic susceptibility. Because the process relies on physical properties, separations can be achieved while producing a minimum of secondary waste. Most traditional physical separation processes effectively treat particles larger than 70 microns. In many situations, the radioactive contaminants are found concentrated in the fine particle size fraction of less than 20 microns. For effective decontamination of the fine particle size fraction most current operations resort to chemical dissolution methods for treatment. High gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) is able to effectively treat particles from 90 to (approximately)0.1 micron in diameter. The technology is currently used on the 60 ton per hour scale in the kaolin clay industry. When the field gradient is of sufficiently high intensity, paramagnetic particles can be physically captured and separated from extraneous nonmagnetic material. Because all actinide compounds are paramagnetic, magnetic separation of actinide containing mixtures is feasible. The advent of reliable superconducting magnets also makes magnetic separation of weakly paramagnetic species attractive. HGMS work at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is being developed for soil remediation, waste water treatment and treatment of actinide chemical processing residues. LANL and Lockheed Environmental Systems and Technologies Company (LESAT) have worked on a co-operative research and development agreement (CRADA) to develop HGMS for radioactive soil decontamination. The program is designed to transfer HGMS from the laboratory and other industries for the commercial treatment of radioactive contaminated materials. 9 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.