Method and apparatus for recovery of radioactive nuclides from spent resin materials

A method for the recovery of a radioactive isotope from a spent waste resin of a nuclear power plant, wherein the waste resin is an ion exchange resin selected from the group consisting of cationic and anionic exchange resins, mixed bed ion-exchange resins, and mixtures thereof, and wherein the spent waste is loaded with at least one radioisotope, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) treating a waste resin loaded with at least one radioisotope with an organic acid or an alkaline compound to release the at least one radioisotope from the spent waste resin and to obtain a process solution containing the at least one radioisotope;
• b) separating the at least one radioisotope from the process solution through a reaction specific to the radioisotope so as to obtain a process solution depleted of the at least one radioisotope, wherein said reaction specific to the radioisotope is selected from the group of a physical reaction, an electrochemical reaction and a precipitation reaction, and a combination thereof and wherein said depleted process solution comprises the organic acid or alkaline compound and ionic components;
• c) reacting the organic acid or alkaline compound in the depleted process solution from step b) by in situ oxidation to water and form gaseous reaction products;
• and
• d) passing the reacted process solution from step c) through the treated waste resin of step a) to reload the ionic components on the waste resin.