Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology

A study on the separation of 99Tc, 94Nb, 55Fe, 90Sr and 59/63Ni in various radioactive wastes discharged from nuclear power plants has been performed for a use in their quantification which is indispensible for the evaluation of the radionuclide inventory. Ni was recovered along with Ca, Mg, Al, Cr, Ti, Mn, Ce, Na, K, and Cu through the sequential separation procedure of Re(as a surrogate of 99Tc), Nb, Fe and Sr by anion exchange and Sr-Spec extraction chromatography. In this research, chemical separation of Ni from the co-existing elements was investigated by cation exchange and Ni-Spec extraction chromatography. Precipitation behaviour of Ni and the co-existing elements with dimethylglyoxime(DMG) was investigated in ammonium citrate/ethanol-H2O and tartaric acid/acetone-H2O in order to purify separated Ni fractions and to prepare 59/63Ni source for the radioactivity measurement using a gas proportional counter. Recovery of Ni separated through ion exchange chromatographic separation procedure was 92.1% with relative standard deviation of 0.9%. In addition, recovery of Ni with DMG in the tartaric acid/acetone-H2O was 85.6% with relative standard deviation of 1.9%.

Keywords

Radioactive wastes,59/63Ni,Ion exchange chromatography,Extraction chromatography,Precipitation