Methods for extracting radioisotopes from radiologically contaminated waste

Abstract

Methods are provided for separating radioisotopes from spent ion exchange resins used to process nuclear waste. In some embodiments, the resin is contacted with an aqueous solution including one or more acids to elute the radioisotopes into an enriched solution. In some embodiments, the resin is contacted with an aqueous solution including one or more salts, such as a sulfate or nitrate salt solution, to elute the radioisotopes into an enriched salt solution. The enriched solution can include at least 80%, or at least 95%, of the activity of radioisotopes such as Sr-90, Co-60, Ni-63, Cs-137, C-14, Co-58, and/or Mn-54 originally present in the resin. In some embodiments, a mixed bed resin is separated into cation and anion components, and the anion resin is treated to release C-14 as carbon dioxide gas which is captured and purified to obtain a C-14 product.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.