The Volume reduction method of radioactively-contaminated plant waste through extraction and removal of radioactive cesium

Saiki, Seiichi; Shibata, Takuya  ; Hoshina, Hiroyuki; Ueki, Yuji; Kasai, Noboru; Seko, Noriaki

After Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accidents, a lot of contaminated wastes have been produced by decontamination works at contaminated areas around Fukushima prefecture, Japan. At some temporary storage sites, it was found that contaminated leaching water was accumulated under stacks of contaminated "plant" wastes. To handle the wastes and the solution properly, decontamination tests of the leaching water were examined with molybdophosphate type cesium adsorbents synthesized by radiation-induced grafting method. At batch adsorption tests, 75% of radioactive cesium was successfully removed with cesium adsorbents. At column adsorption tests, radioactivity concentration of the leaching water could be reduced under provisional limit value up to around 500 times volume as large as an adsorbent volume. For development of volume reduction method of contaminated plant wastes, radioactive cesium extraction tests from the wastes and removal tests from the extracts were executed using contaminated oil cakes of sunflower seeds as a model of contaminated plant wastes. As a result, 65% of radioactive cesium was successfully extracted from the oil cakes to liquid phase, and more than 65% of radioactive cesium could be collected from the extract by grafted cesium adsorbents. These results showed a possibility of an application of these processes to volume reduction method for contaminated plant wastes.