Volume reduction of Cs contaminated soil by magnetic force control

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

By the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, a large amount of soil was contaminated by radioactive Cs, and effective volume reduction techniques have been required to optimize final disposal of the contaminated soil outside Fukushima pref. We focused on the phenomenon that Cs ions are strongly adsorbed on paramagnetic 2:1 type clay minerals, and tried to separate 2:1 type clay minerals selectively by the combination of classification and magnetic separation. In this study, we conducted magnetic separation experiments of actual contaminated soil in Fukushima utilizing a superconducting magnet, based on the simulated results of 2:1 type clay minerals with each particle size. Based on the result, we proposed a new method for volume reduction of Cs contaminated soil.