The Use of Zeolites for the Treatment of Radioactive Waste

A. Dyer and K. Y. Mikhail
Department of Chemistry and Applied Chemistry, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK

Abstract: The uptake of 137-Cs and 90-Sr on to synthetic zeolite A has been studied. The use of a combined barium exchange followed by a relatively mild heat treatment has been shown to fix the isotopes within a collapsed zeolite structure. Leaching experiments using deionized and simulated sea and pond waters were carried out on zeolite compacts and zeolite/cement composites. They demonstrated the effectiveness of the calcination and cement containment. Some comments on the interpretation of leach test data are made.

Keywords: radioactive waste • zeolite • cement

Mineralogical Magazine; April 1985 v. 49; no. 351; p. 203-210; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1985.049.351.07
© 1985, The Mineralogical Society
Mineralogical Society (www.minersoc.org)