Sorption Studies of Some Radionuclides Using Natural Clays

Abstract

The radioactive pollution is a serious problem that attracts the attention of many scientists in all over the world due to the increased demand on nuclear technology and the health hazard associated with its wide application. Radioactive waste contains different radionuclides which are hazardous to human and environment. Therefore, the treatment of radioactive waste is a very important task. The work presented in this thesis deals with the removal of 134Cs, 60Co and 152+154Eu from aqueous solutions using sorption onto natural clays(bentonite, montmorillonite, diatomite and sepiolite) as sorbents. Thework has concerned with the sorption behavior of the mentioned radionuclides for single-component system onto these sorbents under various conditions. It throws a light on the sorption dynamics of these species to clarify the rate-controlling step, the predominating diffusion and sorption mechanism. Also, this work has concerned on the sorption behavior of the mentioned radionuclides for multi-component system onto the studied clays under various conditions. Finally,separation of the concerned radionuclides using the employed clays is performed.This thesis consists of three chapters summarized as follows: