Leaching behavior of cesium, strontium, cobalt, and europium from immobilized cement matrix

Ja Young Goo; Bong Ju Kim; Myunggoo Kang; Jongtae Jeong; Ho Young Jo; Jang Soon Kwon

doi:10.3390/app11188418

Leaching behavior of cesium, strontium, cobalt, and europium from immobilized cement matrix

Ja Young Goo, Bong Ju Kim, Myunggoo Kang, Jongtae Jeong, Ho Young Jo, Jang Soon Kwon

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Numerous low-level and intermediate-level radioactive wastes are generated from the decommissioning processes of nuclear power plants; these wastes are immobilized to prevent the release of radionuclides under disposal conditions. In this study, we investigated the leaching behavior of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu, which are common in immobilized decommissioning wastes. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was used as an immobilization agent. During the test, leaching of the nuclides occurred in the order of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu and decreased over time. The results showed that 41.4% of the total Cs leached over 90 days, although the other elements leached in quantities less than 1.5%. CaCO₃ was precipitated by the release of cementitious materials, indicating carbonation of the leachate. The leachability indexes in all cases exceeded the acceptable criteria (>6). The results of the present study suggest that OPC can be effectively used as a binding material to immobilize nuclides (Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu) contained in decommissioning wastes.

Original language	English
Article number	8418
Journal	Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
Volume	11
Issue number	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/app11188418
Publication status	Published - 2021 Sept

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the R&D program of MOTIE/KEIT (20193210100120, Development of waste acceptance criteria application and WCP requirements for disposal of the NPP decommissioning radioactive waste solidification treatment) and Korea Spent Nuclear Fuel (iKSNF) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Science and ICT, MSIT) (No. 2021M2E1A1085202).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Carbonation
Decommissioning radioactive waste
Immobilization
Leaching
Portland cement

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Materials Science(all)
Instrumentation
Engineering(all)
Process Chemistry and Technology
Computer Science Applications
Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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10.3390/app11188418

Cite this

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title = "Leaching behavior of cesium, strontium, cobalt, and europium from immobilized cement matrix",

abstract = "Numerous low-level and intermediate-level radioactive wastes are generated from the decommissioning processes of nuclear power plants; these wastes are immobilized to prevent the release of radionuclides under disposal conditions. In this study, we investigated the leaching behavior of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu, which are common in immobilized decommissioning wastes. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was used as an immobilization agent. During the test, leaching of the nuclides occurred in the order of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu and decreased over time. The results showed that 41.4% of the total Cs leached over 90 days, although the other elements leached in quantities less than 1.5%. CaCO3 was precipitated by the release of cementitious materials, indicating carbonation of the leachate. The leachability indexes in all cases exceeded the acceptable criteria (>6). The results of the present study suggest that OPC can be effectively used as a binding material to immobilize nuclides (Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu) contained in decommissioning wastes.",

keywords = "Carbonation, Decommissioning radioactive waste, Immobilization, Leaching, Portland cement",

author = "Goo, {Ja Young} and Kim, {Bong Ju} and Myunggoo Kang and Jongtae Jeong and Jo, {Ho Young} and Kwon, {Jang Soon}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the R&D program of MOTIE/KEIT (20193210100120, Development of waste acceptance criteria application and WCP requirements for disposal of the NPP decommissioning radioactive waste solidification treatment) and Korea Spent Nuclear Fuel (iKSNF) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Science and ICT, MSIT) (No. 2021M2E1A1085202). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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doi = "10.3390/app11188418",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

journal = "Applied Sciences (Switzerland)",

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AU - Goo, Ja Young

AU - Kim, Bong Ju

AU - Kang, Myunggoo

AU - Jeong, Jongtae

AU - Jo, Ho Young

AU - Kwon, Jang Soon

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the R&D program of MOTIE/KEIT (20193210100120, Development of waste acceptance criteria application and WCP requirements for disposal of the NPP decommissioning radioactive waste solidification treatment) and Korea Spent Nuclear Fuel (iKSNF) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Science and ICT, MSIT) (No. 2021M2E1A1085202). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021/9

Y1 - 2021/9

N2 - Numerous low-level and intermediate-level radioactive wastes are generated from the decommissioning processes of nuclear power plants; these wastes are immobilized to prevent the release of radionuclides under disposal conditions. In this study, we investigated the leaching behavior of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu, which are common in immobilized decommissioning wastes. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was used as an immobilization agent. During the test, leaching of the nuclides occurred in the order of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu and decreased over time. The results showed that 41.4% of the total Cs leached over 90 days, although the other elements leached in quantities less than 1.5%. CaCO3 was precipitated by the release of cementitious materials, indicating carbonation of the leachate. The leachability indexes in all cases exceeded the acceptable criteria (>6). The results of the present study suggest that OPC can be effectively used as a binding material to immobilize nuclides (Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu) contained in decommissioning wastes.

AB - Numerous low-level and intermediate-level radioactive wastes are generated from the decommissioning processes of nuclear power plants; these wastes are immobilized to prevent the release of radionuclides under disposal conditions. In this study, we investigated the leaching behavior of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu, which are common in immobilized decommissioning wastes. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was used as an immobilization agent. During the test, leaching of the nuclides occurred in the order of Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu and decreased over time. The results showed that 41.4% of the total Cs leached over 90 days, although the other elements leached in quantities less than 1.5%. CaCO3 was precipitated by the release of cementitious materials, indicating carbonation of the leachate. The leachability indexes in all cases exceeded the acceptable criteria (>6). The results of the present study suggest that OPC can be effectively used as a binding material to immobilize nuclides (Cs, Sr, Co, and Eu) contained in decommissioning wastes.

KW - Carbonation

KW - Decommissioning radioactive waste

KW - Immobilization

KW - Leaching

KW - Portland cement

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Leaching behavior of cesium, strontium, cobalt, and europium from immobilized cement matrix

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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