Solidification of Microbiologically Treated Ion-Exchange Resins Using Portland Cement-Based Systems

Abstract

Pretreated inactive ion exchange resins from the Loviisa nuclear power plant (NPP) were first reduced to one tenth of the original volume through microbiological treatment. During the process, the granular ion exchange resins were decomposed to result in dregs, which were solidified with two types of Portland cements. The objective of the present experiments was to investigate whether commercial cements are suitable solidification agents for this kind of waste.A total of ten mixtures were pretested for their rheological and setting properties. On the basis of the pretest results, four additional mixtures were chosen and tested for the spread value, density, air content, setting time and bleeding of the fresh waste product and for the dimensional stability and compressive strength of the hardened waste product. The cementing systems incorporated in the tests were ASTM type V Portland cement and ASTM type P Portland Composite cements. The dregs used in the tests were taken from a Pilot-Plant experiment at the Loviisa NPP and contained 2 wt-% solids.The test results were promising in showing that microbiological dregs can very easily be solidified with Portland cements to form a high-quality waste product. Thus, the microbiological treatment of spent ion exchange resins will drastically decrease the amount of solidified waste to be disposed of at the Loviisa NPP.