Desorption of Cs from vermiculite by ultrasound assisted ion exchange.

Nuclear power plant accidents typically lead to the contamination of large volumes of soils with radioactive cesium. This element is hard to desorb from soil, especially when it is bound to mica minerals, and aggressive and energy-consuming techniques are often required. In this study, we investigated the use of ultrasound with Mg cation exchange for the removal of aCs-contaminated vermiculite over a wide range of temperatures (20-200 °C).