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A Study on Treatment of Strong Acidic Wastewater Containing a High Concentration of a Nonionic Surfactant and Ionic Materials with Radioactive Nuclides

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Abstract

Radioactively contaminated metal components are generated during the operation or decommissioning of a nuclear power plant. These metals can be effectively decontaminated using a foam containing H2SO4 and Ce(IV) with significant reduction of radioactive liquid wastes. However, this decontamination method generates strong acidic wastewater containing a high concentration of a surfactant and ionic materials with radioactive nuclides. Treating this wastewater by using precipitation and filtration is not appropriate considering efficiency and waste generation. In this study, an integrated process of precipitation and low pressure evaporation was evaluated for the treatment of wastewater. It was confirmed that the ionic materials were separated at an efficiency above 99.9% without secondary waste generation, and the surfactant was reduced to 1/35 through this integrated process.

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Data Availability

The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

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Funding

The authors would like to express their appreciation for the support provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), which is funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) of the Republic of Korea (RS-2022–00155421).

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Correspondence to Hee-Chul Eun.

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Eun, HC., Chang, NO., Lee, Sb. et al. A Study on Treatment of Strong Acidic Wastewater Containing a High Concentration of a Nonionic Surfactant and Ionic Materials with Radioactive Nuclides. Water Air Soil Pollut 233, 360 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05832-1

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