Volume reduction of contaminated soil by superconducting magnetic separation technology

Akiyama, Yoko*; Yukumatsu, Kazuki*; Horie, Hiroki*; Mishima, Fumihito*; Sekiyama, Tomio; Mitsui, Seiichiro  ; Kato, Mitsugu; Nishijima, Shigehiro*

A large amount of the contaminated soil has been removed in the process of off-site decontamination works in Fukushima prefecture and will be stored intensively at the interim storage facilities (ISF). According to the amended JESCO Law, the National Government shall take necessary measures for the final disposal outside Fukushima within 30 years from the start of the ISF. In order to optimize final disposal of the contaminated soil outside Fukushima, development of effective treatment techniques is indispensable. In this study, we have been investigating selective separation of paramagnetic 2:1 type clay minerals, which strongly absorb and fix Cs ions, by superconducting magnetic separation on silt/clay suspension as a separation technique. We conducted magnetic separation experiments of contaminated soil in Fukushima utilizing a superconducting magnet based on results of particle trajectory simulation for various particle size.