Effect of Flowing Water on Sr Sorption Changes of Hydrous Sodium Titanate

Abstract

Radioactive contaminated water has been generated at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power station (F1NPS). Hydrous sodium titanate (SrTreat®) is able to remove radioactive Strontium (Sr) from this water. Knowing the amount of radioactive nuclides in the used as-received SrTreat® is important for effective disposal and deposition of the F1NPS waste. This study investigated changes in the ability of SrTreat® to sorb Sr, and to understand the causes of changes in the sorbing. An investigation of the Sr sorption ability of SrTreat® is important for calculating the initial radioactive inventory of used SrTreat®. This study carries out Sr sorption studies with acid-base titrations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to characterize the properties. After exposure to simulated treated water for 99 h, the surface structure of the SrTreat® was changed, and the percentage of sorbed Sr and the buffer capacity for protons decreased. When the amount of radioactive nuclides contained in the used SrTreat® is calculated from the sorption data of the as-received SrTreat®, the radioactive Sr content will be overestimated with a concomitant increase in the deposition and disposal costs of the used SrTreat®.

Keywords

• Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
• radioactive contaminated water
• hydrous sodium titanate
• Sr sorption
• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy