Precursors for the Immobilization of Radioactive Cesium and Strontium from Spent Nuclear Fuel

Next generation processes for the recycling of spent nuclear fuel are being developed by the US Department of Energy; this includes solvent extraction methods developed to isolate Cs and Sr fission products and immobilize them in a stable storage form. In this study, simulated (i.e., non-radioactive) cesium and strontium bearing liquid wastes were created and treated with carbon, silica, and alumina at 700 deg. C. The overall goal of this 2006 Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) project is to synthesize candidate ceramics for Cs and Sr storage and characterize their behavior. The initial results described here confirm the formation of stable compounds resembling strontianite (SrCO{sub 3}) and cesium-aluminosilicate (CsAlSi{sub 2}O{sub 4}). (authors)