Volume reduction of cesium contaminated soil by high gradient magnetic separation using superconducting magnet

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

The amount of Cs contaminated soil originating from decontamination work after the accident of Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant is estimated as large as 20 million m in maximum, and its volume reduction is required to optimize final disposal of the contaminated soil outside Fukushima pref. We have proposed a new method to reduce the volume of the contaminated soil by the combination of wet classification and high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS). In this study, we have been investigating selective separation of paramagnetic 2:1 type clay minerals and mica, which strongly absorb and fix Cs ions, by superconducting magnetic separation on silt/clay suspension as a volume reduction 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.