Search Results (71)

This study systematically explored the performance of a vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) system equipped with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) hollow fiber membranes for treating simulated, acidic, low-level radioactive liquid waste. By focusing on key operational parameters, including feed temperature, vacuum pressure, and flow velocity, an orthogonal experiment was designed to obtain the optimal parameters. Considering the potential application scenarios, the following two factors were also studied: the initial nuclide concentrations (0.5, 5, and 50 mg·L⁻¹) and tributyl phosphate (TBP) concentrations (0, 20, and 100 mg·L⁻¹) in the feed solution. The results indicated that the optimal operational parameters for VMD were as follows: a feed temperature of 70 °C, a vacuum pressure of 90 kPa, and a flow rate of 500 L·h⁻¹. Under these parameters, the VMD system demonstrated a maximum permeate flux of 0.9 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹, achieving a nuclide rejection rate exceeding 99.9%, as well as a nitric acid rejection rate of 99.4%. A significant negative correlation was observed between permeate flux and nuclide concentrations at levels above 50 mg·L⁻¹. The presence of TBP in the feed solution produced membrane fouling, leading to flux decline and a reduced separation efficiency, with severity increasing with TBP concentration. The VMD process simultaneously achieved nuclide rejection and nitric acid concentration in acidic radioactive wastewater, demonstrating strong potential for nuclear wastewater treatment. Full article

This study investigates the mechanical and microstructural performance of three alkali-activated geopolymer formulations, constituted of metakaolin (MK), blast furnace slag (BFS), and a ternary blend of MK, BFS, and fly ash (MIX), for the immobilization of simulated radioactive liquid organic waste (RLOW). Thermal ageing tests were performed to evaluate geopolymer durability, including fire exposure (800 °C) and climatic chamber cycles (from −20 to 40 °C). Characterization through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), compression tests, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) was carried out to assess material degradation after thermal ageing. Preliminary results showed substantial strength and microstructural degradation in oil-loaded specimens after cyclic climatic ageing, while fire-exposed blank matrices retained partial mechanical integrity. BFS matrices exhibited the best thermal resistance, attributable to the formation of Ca-Al-Si-hydrate (C-A-S-H) gels. These findings support the use of optimized geopolymer formulations for safe RLOW immobilization, while contributing to the advancement of knowledge on sustainable and regulatory-compliant direct conditioning technology. Full article

In this work, hybrid membranes were fabricated by depositing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fibers onto PET track-etched membranes (TeMs) using the electrospinning technique. The resulting structures exhibited enhanced hydrophobicity, with contact angles reaching 155°, making them suitable for applications in both water–oil mixture separation and membrane distillation processes involving low-level liquid radioactive waste (LLLRW), saline solutions, and natural water sources. The use of hybrids of TeMs and nanofiber membranes has significantly increased productivity compared to TeMs only, while maintaining a high degree of purification. Permeate obtained after MD of LLLRW and river water was analyzed by conductometry and the atomic emission spectroscopy (for Sr, Cs, Al, Mo, Co, Sb, Ca, Fe, Mg, K, and Na). The activity of radioisotopes (for ¹²⁴Sb, ⁶⁵Zn, ⁶⁰Co, ⁵⁷Co, ¹³⁷Cs, and ¹³⁴Cs) was evaluated by gamma-ray spectroscopy. In most cases, the degree of rejection was between 95 and 100% with a water flux of up to 17.3 kg/m²·h. These membranes were also tested in the separation of cetane–water emulsion with productivity up to 47.3 L/m²·min at vacuum pressure of 700 mbar and 15.2 L/m²·min at vacuum pressure of 900 mbar. Full article

This article is devoted to an overview of the conducted work and the current status of decommissioning of the world’s first BN-350 industrial fast neutron reactor. The reactor was put into operation on 16 July 1973 in Aktau. In 1999, the government of Kazakhstan decided to shut down the reactor, and from that moment to the present, it has been in the decommissioning stage. All work on decommissioning the reactor facility was grouped into five stages. The first stage was completed in 2010 when the spent fuel of the BN-350 reactor was placed for long-term storage. The second stage is nearing completion. Research is currently underway to develop technologies for processing radioactive sodium. The goal of the third and fourth stages of the BN-350 reactor decommissioning is the comprehensive processing of liquid and solid radioactive waste. Now such waste is stored in special storage directly on the territory of the nuclear power plant. Full article

Water contamination by heavy metals, including radionuclides, is a major threat to human health and the environment. New methods for their removal are therefore needed. Adsorption is currently a common method for wastewater treatment. It depends on the physical and chemical interactions between heavy metal ions and adsorbents. The main characteristics of suitable adsorption methods are (i) a high adsorption efficiency and ability to remove different types of ions, (ii) a high retention time and cycle stability of adsorbents, and (iii) availability. Chitin is a commercially available biopolymer from marine waste that has several favourable properties: availability, low cost, high biocompatibility, biodegradability, and effective adsorption properties for metal ions. However, the processing of chitin into stable structures, such as chitin-based composites, is difficult due to its high chemical stability and extremely low solubility in most solvents. The central working hypothesis of the present work is that powdered α-chitin can be dissolved in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and cross-linked with its monomer, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, in a Maillard-like or caramelisation reaction to produce chitin-based composites. It is further hypothesised that such composites can be used as biosorbents for heavy metal ions. Eu(III) is chosen here as a non-radioactive representative and analogue for other f-elements. Full article

Not having the same grade of popularity as other metals like rare earth elements, gold, copper, etc., strontium is a chemical element with wide uses in daily life, which is why it appears in the EU 2023 list of Critical Raw Materials. Among the sources (with celestine serving as the raw material) used to recover the element, the recycling of some Sr-bearing secondary wastes is under consideration, and it is also worth mentioning the interest in the removal of strontium from radioactive effluents. To reach these goals, several technological alternatives are being proposed, with the most widely used being the adsorption of strontium or one of its isotopes on solid materials. The present work reviews the most recent advances (for 2024) in the utilization of diverse technologies, including leaching, adsorption, liquid–liquid extraction, etc., in the recovery/elimination of Sr(II) and common ⁹⁰Sr and ⁸⁵Sr radionuclides present in different solid or liquid wastes. While adsorption and membrane technologies are useful for treating Sr-diluted solutions (in the mg/L order), liquid–liquid extraction is more suitable for the treatment of Sr-concentrated solutions (in the g/L order). Full article

Composite adsorbents based on a natural biopolymer matrix of chitosan, to which 4-amino-N′-hydroxy-1,2,5-oxadiazole-3-carboximidamide and its Se derivative were attached, were synthesized. A complex of physicochemical analysis methods indicates that the direct introduction of a matrix with high ionic permeability into the reaction mixture contributes to the formation of homogeneous particles of composite with developed surface morphology, which enhances the kinetic and capacitive parameters of uranium sorption in liquid media. It has been established that the direct introduction of a matrix with high ionic permeability into the reaction mixture contributes to the formation of homogeneous particles with a developed surface morphology, which enhances the kinetic and capacitive parameters of uranium sorption in liquid media. The synthesized materials had increased sorption-selective properties towards uranium in the pH range from 4 to 9 under static sorption conditions. The formation of the Se derivative of amidoxime during its attachment to the polymer matrix (Se-chit) contributes to the creation of a more chemically stable and highly effective adsorbent, compared to the direct binding of 4-amino-N′-hydroxy-1,2,5-oxadiazole-3-carboximidamide with chitosan (43AF-chit). The optimal parameters for the synthesis of materials were established. It was demonstrated that the ratio of amidoxime to chitosan should be within the range of 2:1 to 1:2. As the mass content of chitosan increases, the material gradually dissolves and transforms into a gel, resulting in the formation of liquid radioactive waste with a complex chemical composition. It was found that the kinetic sorption parameters of composite materials increase 2–10 times compared to those of non-composite materials. The sorption capacity of uranium in solutions with pH 6 and pH 8 can reach approximately 400–450 mg g⁻¹. Under dynamic sorption conditions, the effective filtration cycle values (before uranium slips into the filtrate ≥ 50%) improve significantly when transitioning from a non-composite adsorbent to a composite one: increasing from 50 to 800 b.v. for pH 6 and from 2700 to 4000 b.v. for pH 8. These results indicate that the synthesized sorbents are promising materials for uranium removal from liquid media, suitable for both purification and the recovery of radionuclides as valuable raw materials. Full article

⁹⁰Sr is one of the highly radioactive and hazardous nuclides in nuclear waste liquids. The high water solubility and mobility of ⁹⁰Sr²⁺ ions make it difficult to effectively remove ⁹⁰Sr from the complex aqueous environment. Herein, K₂SbPO₆, a phosphatoantimonate ion exchange material with an excellent removal ability for Sr²⁺ ions, has been organically granulated with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) by an automated method to form K₂SbPO₆/PAN composite microspheres. The K₂SbPO₆/PAN microspheres with radiation resistance exhibit a high maximum adsorption capacity (q_m^Sr) of 131.15 mg g⁻¹ for Sr²⁺ ions and retain the high removal rate (R^Sr) in a wide pH range (pH = 3–12). It is important that K₂SbPO₆/PAN microspheres could efficiently treat Sr²⁺ ions solutions in a dynamic adsorption manner even at 970 bed volumes (R^Sr > 81%). This work paves the way for the preparation of low-cost ion exchange materials with the advantages of regular shape and easy operation by a simple and fast method and the practical application of powdered ion exchange materials. Full article

Among the many possible applications of iron phosphate glasses, one of them is that they are promising materials in waste vitrification, particularly for radioactive waste. In vitrified form, waste elements should be permanently immobilized in a glass network as they are susceptible to harsh environmental conditions. The self-diffusion of the vitrified material species may limit the potential usefulness of the glasses. This paper presents the possibility of using molecular dynamics simulations to study this process and the substitution of SrO into an iron phosphate glass network. It was evidenced that the self-diffusion mechanism differed significantly depending on whether the glass was in a solid or liquid state. The proposed method also offered a relatively easy prediction of glass characteristic temperatures, such as transformation and flow. We also observed, and here describe, an aggregation process of the glass elements that may drive their crystallization. The obtained results are discussed in light of the experimental and theoretical structural feature literature data. Full article

The efficient segregation of radioactive nuclides from low-level radioactive liquid waste (LLRW) is paramount for nuclear emergency protocols and waste minimization. Here, we synthesized Na₃FePO₄CO₃ (NFPC) via a one-pot hydrothermal method and applied it for the first time to the selective separation of Sr²⁺ from simulated LLRW. Static adsorption experimental results indicated that the distribution coefficient K_d remained above 5000 mL·g⁻¹, even when the concentration of interfering ions was more than 40 times that of Sr²⁺. Furthermore, the removal efficiency of Sr²⁺ showed no significant change within the pH range of 4 to 9. The adsorption of Sr²⁺ fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model, with an equilibrium time of 36 min and a maximum adsorption capacity of 99.6 mg·g⁻¹. Notably, the adsorption capacity was observed to increment marginally with an elevation in temperature. Characterization analyses and density functional theory (DFT) calculations elucidated the adsorption mechanism, demonstrating that Sr²⁺ initially engaged in an ion exchange reaction with Na⁺. Subsequently, Sr²⁺ coordinated with four oxygen atoms on the NFPC (100) facet, establishing a robust Sr-O bond via orbital hybridization. Full article

Agriculture in the 21st century faces many formidable challenges with the growing global population. Increasing demands on the planet’s natural resources already tax existing agricultural practices. Today, many farmers are using biochemical treatments to improve their yields. Commercialized organic biostimulants exist in the form of pyroligneous acid generated by burning agricultural waste products. Recently, we examined the mechanisms through which a commercial pyroligneous acid product, Coriphol™, manufactured by Corigin Solutions, Inc., stimulates plant growth. During the 2023 growing season, outdoor studies were conducted in soybean to examine the effects of different Coriphol™ treatment concentrations on plant growth. Plant height, number of leaves, and leaf size were positively impacted in a dose-dependent manner with 2 gallon/acre soil treatments being optimal. At harvest, this level of treatment boosted crop yield by 40%. To gain an understanding of why Coriphol™ improves plant fitness, follow-up laboratory-based studies were conducted using radiocarbon flux analysis. Here, radioactive ¹¹CO₂ was administered to live plants and comparisons were made between untreated soybean plants and plants treated at an equivalent Coriphol™ dose of 2 gallons/acre. Leaf metabolites were analyzed using radio-high-performance liquid chromatography for [¹¹C]-chlorophyll (Chl) a and b components, as well as [¹¹C]-β-carotene (β-Car) where fractional yields were used to calculate metabolic rates of synthesis. Altogether, Coriphol™ treatment boosted rates of Chl a, Chl b, and β-Car biosynthesis 3-fold, 2.6-fold, and 4.7-fold, respectively, and also increased their metabolic turnover 2.2-fold, 2.1-fold, and 3.9-fold, respectively. Also, the Chl a/b ratio increased from 3.1 to 3.4 with treatment. Altogether, these effects contributed to a 13.8% increase in leaf carbon capture. Full article

Bentonite is used as a buffer material in engineered barriers for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The buffer material will be made of bentonite, a natural clay, mixed with silica sand. The buffer material is affected by decay heat from high-level radioactive waste, infiltration of groundwater, and swelling of the buffer material. The analysis of these factors requires coupled analysis of heat transfer, moisture transfer, and groundwater chemistry. The purpose of this study is to develop a model to evaluate bentonite types and silica sand content in a unified manner for thermo-hydro-chemical (T-H-C)-coupled analysis in buffer materials. We focused on the content of the clay mineral montmorillonite, which is the main component of bentonite, and developed a model to derive the moisture diffusion coefficient of liquid water and water vapor based on Philip and de Vries, and Kozeny–Carman. The evolutions of the temperature and moisture distribution in the buffer material were analyzed, and the validity of each distribution was confirmed by comparison with the measured data obtained from an in situ experiment at 350 m in depth at the Horonobe Underground Research Center, Hokkaido, Japan. Full article

Due to various historical events, in the Russian Federation, in addition to the radioactive waste storage facilities used in world practice, there are various nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities that require special procedures for monitoring and decommissioning. One of these facilities is the disposal site for LRW on the territory of the JSC Siberian Chemical Plant, where specially prepared waste is injected into sand reservoirs lying at depths of 300–350 m between clayey strata. This study examines in detail the features of the lithological and mineral composition of reservoir sands and aquitards. The processes of environmental transformation in reservoir sands, which lead to changes in the composition and structure of rocks, were characterized. These processes manifest themselves in the form of the development of leaching zones and their “healing” with newly formed smectite, the destruction of terrigenous grains, including the development of cracks, and the growth of newly formed smectite in the pore space of reservoirs. The forms of occurrence and localization of authigenic smectite formed as a result of technogenic impact are described. It has been shown that, despite the obvious impact of highly reactive solutions accompanying liquid radioactive waste, the insulating properties of the geological environment are maintained and even improved to some extent. Full article

The development of microbial biofilms increases the survival of microorganisms in the extreme conditions of ecosystems contaminated with components of liquid radioactive waste (LRW) and may contribute to the successful bioremediation of groundwater. The purpose of this work was to compare the composition of the microorganisms and the exopolysaccharide matrix of the biofilms formed on sandy loams collected at the aquifer from a clean zone and from a zone with nitrate and radionuclide contamination. The aquifer is polluted from the nearby surface repository for liquid radioactive waste (Russia). The phylogenetic diversity of prokaryotes forming biofilms on the sandy loams’ surface was determined during 100 days using high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA genes. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the development of microbial biofilms on the sandy loams. The ratio of proteins and carbohydrates in the biofilms changed in the course of their development, and the diversity of monosaccharides decreased, depending on the contamination of the sites from which the rocks were selected. The presence of pollution affects biofilm formation and EPS composition along with the dominant taxa of microorganisms and their activity. Biofilms establish a concentration gradient of the pollutant and allow the microorganisms involved to effectively participate in the reduction of nitrate and sulfate; they decrease the risk of nitrite accumulation during denitrification and suppress the migration of radionuclides. These biofilms can serve as an important barrier in underground water sources, preventing the spread of pollution. Pure cultures of microorganisms capable of forming a polysaccharide matrix and reducing nitrate, chromate, uranyl, and pertechnetate ions were isolated from the biofilms, which confirmed the possibility of their participation in the bioremediation of the aquifer from nonradioactive waste components and the decrease in the radionuclides’ migration. Full article

Although the potential of natural minerals for purification of liquid radioactive wastes (LRW) from radionuclides has been widely studied, the use of hybrid polymer composites made of zeolite is still rather scarce. This article reports on the preparation of zeolite-based hybrid polymer composites using the in situ polymerization technique in the body of mineral matrix and its intercalated with copper ferrocyanide (CuFC) forms. This hybrid polymer composites have shown unique and enhanced properties for the removal of micropollutants from wasted water as compared to the individual mineral. The change in conventional properties of two mixed minerals, such as zeolite and bentonite, and their intercalated with CuFC forms were probed using techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) and FT-IR analysis. The totality of analysis showed a coexistence of intercalated and percolated zeolite phases. The hybrid polymer composites exhibited both adsorption and ion-exchange properties in the removal of ^134,137Cs⁺, ^57,60Co²⁺ and ⁸⁵Sr²⁺ radionuclides from LRW. Full article