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Development of a chelating ion exchange-based radionuclides removal method for the treatment of routine laboratory organic liquid waste

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Abstract

In the present work, an ion exchange-based radionuclides removal method for the treatment of radioactive laboratory organic liquid waste was developed. The removal of radionuclides was accomplished with the combined action of an in-house developed chelating type polystyrene based weakly acidic cation exchange resin and oxalic acid complexant. The efficacy of the method was investigated based on the results of gamma spectrometry, liquid scintillation counting and alpha spectrometry. The radioactive organic liquid waste treatment was demonstrated finally through column mode of separation method for nearly 1 Litre of the waste.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank the support from Dr. B. Sreenivasulu by providing the appropriate radioactive organic liquid waste. The authors express sincere acknowledgements to Dr. A. Suresh, Head, FChD, Dr. V. Jayaraman, Associate Director, FMCG and Dr. N. Sivaraman, Director, MC&MFCG for their constant support and encouragement.

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Correspondence to A. S. Suneesh or N. Ramanathan.

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Suneesh, A.S., Rout, A., Prathibha, T. et al. Development of a chelating ion exchange-based radionuclides removal method for the treatment of routine laboratory organic liquid waste. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 2771–2783 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-08927-z

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