Recovery of Cs-137 from electric arc furnace dust by lixiviation

Abstract

An orphan radioactive source of Cs-137 was inadvertently melted in an electric arc furnace, generating large volumes of electric arc furnace dusts contaminated with Cs-137 (137Cs-EAFD). This work proposes the Cs-137 recovery from 137Cs-EAFD by applying a leaching process and the Cs-137 reuse to prepare 137Cs/137mBa generators, not commercially available. The Cs-137 recovery efficiencies from 137Cs-EAFD depended mainly on the chemical composition of the EAFD and the type of leachates. Oxide- and hydroxide-based minerals in the EAFD favor the adsorption of Cs-137 in basic medium. Cs-137 recovered is quantitatively adsorbed on cation-exchange resins.

Keywords

• Cs-137
• Electric arc furnace dust
• Leaching
• 137Cs/137mBa generator