Penetration of fission product ions into complex solids and the effect of ionic wash methods.

During washing of radiologically impacted building surfaces, penetration of radionuclide ions into complex solids associated with these surfaces may occur. This study investigates the penetration of Cs, Sr, and Eu solutions into numerous common building materials and radionuclide behavior when these materials were exposed to a static bath or low-pressure flow of tap water, 0.1 M potassium chloride (KCl), and 0.

Evaluating Solid Sorbents for Recycling Wash Waters Containing Strontium and Calcium.

A system for rapid reduction of radioactive contamination and recycle of contaminated waters is called the Integrated Wash-Aid, Treatment, and Emergency Reuse System (IWATERS). First developed for cesium contaminations, IWATERS prescribes the use of salt and surfactant additives to decontaminate radionuclides from urban surfaces. The water is collected and recycled after passing through reactive filtration beds containing selective sorbents.

Silicate coating to prevent leaching from radiolabeled surrogate far-field fallout in aqueous environments.

Recent characterization of radioactive particles indicate that a large percentage of the radioactivity observed during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown was insoluble Cs bound within silica microparticles. Therefore, much of the decontamination research performed prior to the Fukushima incident that used either soluble radionuclides deposited onto wet surfaces or large (∼100 μm) particles characteristic of nuclear weapons fallout do not accurately represent the characteristics of potential contamination. Thus, the common practice of extrapolating radioactive decontamination methods generically to all radioactive release events is, at best, suspect.