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A new cobalt imprinted polymer that could significantly reduce the amount of radioactive waste produced during decontamination of nuclear reactors is being developed by scientists in Germany and India. Their study, which details a first-of-its-kind discovery, has been published in the ACS Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, a bi-weekly journal.
Article: “Synthesis and Characterization of Imprinted Polymers for Radioactive Waste Reduction”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2009, 48 (8), pp 3730–3737 DOI: 10.1021/ie801640b
The researchers note that structural materials such as carbon steel in power plants’ water cooling systems form deposits of metal oxides when they interact with coolants. In nuclear power plants, these oxides trap radioactive ions, leading to buildups of radioactivity that require costly cleanups of reactor surfaces. Cobalt, present in some alloys used in the reactors’ water systems, is a major contributor toward this problem because of its long half-life.
In the study, the researchers created an adsorbent material that - unlike conventional ion-exchange resins that are frequently used in reactors - is selective for cobalt but has the unique ability of disregarding iron-based ions.
The retention capacity for the active cobalt was found to lessen reduction in the solution activity by about 55%. The polymer’s high selectivity increases its appeal, the researchers add, for use in decontamination processes in reactors that utilize a variety of structural materials.
This adsorbent is promising in effecting large reductions in the volume of radioactive waste generated during the regular cleanup operations as well as during decommissioning of these nuclear reactors.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511090842.htm
A very interesting article. The nuclear power station operators should make themselves over an introduction polymere genuine thoughts. Also to the improvement of the protection of their plant employees.