Rapid separation of 99Tc, 90Sr, 55Fe, 94Nb, and 59,63Ni in radioactive waste samples

• DOI: 10.1007/s10967-015-4535-1
• Publication Date: 2015-10-22T07:24:40Z
• Authors: Chang Heon Lee; Hong Joo Ahn; JeongMook Lee; Yeong-Keong Ha; Jong-Yun Kim
• Keywords: 7. Clean energy; 01 natural sciences; 12. Responsible consumption; 0104 chemical sciences

A procedure for the rapid separation of 99Tc, 90Sr, 55Fe, 94Nb, and 59,63Ni in radioactive waste samples was developed for measuring their activity. After separating 99Tc on an anion-exchange resin column, 90Sr was separated as 90Sr(CaC2O4) co-precipitates, and 59,63Ni, 55Fe, and 94Nb were sequentially separated on an anion-exchange resin column in the presence of oxalate. The separated 90Sr and 59,63Ni were further purified on extraction chromatographic resin columns, respectively. The chemical yields of the separation procedure for Re, Sr, Fe, Nb, and Ni, which were added as chemical carriers, are 99.3 ± 0.3 %, 94.8 ± 0.6 %, 93.3 ± 1.2 %, 95.3 ± 1.9 %, and 92.6 ± 0.6 %, respectively. The separation of these radionuclides from sixteen radioactive waste samples required only seven person-days.