Studies on the Removal of Radioactive Contaminants From Water

Strontium and Calcium in Municipal Water Supplies

“…Nevertheless, the maximum removals of dissolved strontium resulting from each type of treatment indicate that alum is much less effective than when used in combination with softening agents like lime-soda ash, phosphates, or ion exchangers (compare Samples 7-9). These conclusions, based on the effects of operations routinely performed in actual water treatment plants, are in general agreement with the results of published laboratory and pilot plant studies designed to assay the value of such treatments in decontamination of waters (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). The authors' observations of as high as 85 per cent dissolved-strontium removal with conventional water softening procedures, when taken together with the published pilot plant studies, indicate that it would be possible to remove more than 90 per cent in the event of serious contamination of large volumes of water.…”

Removal of Radioactive Material From Water by Slurrying With Powdered Metal

“…The dissolved or suspended radioactive material in water could be a source of alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, and ingestion could cause physiological damage. When radioactive materials are deposited in the body, the effects depend upon several factors (1) including: [1] site of deposition; [2] physical half life; [3] biologic: I half life; [4] type of deposition-local or entire body; [5] type of radiation; and [6] energy. The changes that are produced may not appear until the dangerous material has resided in the body for many years and irreparable physical damage has been done (2).…”

Effective and Selective Adsorption of Zn2+ from Seawater on a Layered Silicate

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Concentration of ions and molecular species from water on solid surfaces is a topic covering a wide range of scientific and practical applications for such purposes as the removal of toxic compounds and the collection of noble elements and molecules. [2] Concentration of cationic species, especially heavy metals and radioactive ions, on ion-exchangeable layered materials, such as smectite clays, [3] synthetic micas, [4] layered metal phosphates, [5] and layered titanates, [6] has been studied so far. Layered inorganic solids and their derivatives are promising adsorbents with the following advantages: a) large surface area derived from well-defined nanostructures composed of an ultrathin layer (a so-called "nanosheet"), b) chemical and thermal stabilities when compared with their organic counterparts, and c) material diversity.

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