Mechanistic study on the removal of Cs from contaminated soil by rapid ion exchange in subcritical water

Fukuda, Tatsuya*; Takahashi, Ryo*; Hara, Takuhi*; Ohara, Koji*; Kato, Kazuo*; Matsumura, Daiju   ; Inaba, Yusuke*; Nakase, Masahiko*; Takeshita, Kenji*

As a result of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in March 2011, massive amounts of soil were contaminated with radioactive Cs. To remediate the contaminated soil, we are developing a desorption technique for removing Cs from soil using subcritical water. We found that rapid ion exchange of Cs with multivalent cations in subcritical water is an effective desorption technique. To understand the mechanism and structural aspects of this process, in situ observations of the soil layer in subcritical water were carried out by high-energy X-ray diffraction together with pair distribution function analysis, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. Both the desorption experiments and structural studies indicated that conformational changes of the layer containing Cs under subcritical water conditions promoted intercalation of the hydrated Mg and trapped Cs, which facilitated a rapid ion-exchange reaction of Mg and Cs.