Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 19 No 3 (2015): 472 – 480

 

 

 

IMMOBILIZATION OF SPENT ION EXCHANGE RESIN FROM PUSPATI TRIGA REACTOR USING FLY ASH-BASED GEOPOLYMER

 

(Pemegunan Resin Penukar Ion Terpakai dari Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI Menggunakan Geopolimer Berasaskan Abu Terbang)

 

Nurul Wahida Ahmad Khairudin^1,2*,Muhamad Samudi Yasir¹, Amran Ab Majid¹, Mohd Abd Wahab²,

Nik Marzukee², Wilfred Paulus², Esther Philip², Thanaletchumy², M.N Irwan¹

 

¹School of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology,

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

²Malaysian Nuclear Agency, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: nwahida@nuclearmalaysia.gov.my

 

 

Received: 10 July 2014; Accepted: 1 April 2015

 

 

Abstract

A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the possibility of immobilizing spent ion exchange resins using geopolymer process that was prepared at room temperature. The main objective of this research is to determine the suitability of using geopolymer in radioactive waste immobilization. The spent ion exchange resins and fly ash were obtained from PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor and Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Power Plant, Kapar, Selangor respectively. The geopolymer was activated with NaOH and Na₂SO₃ at room temperature. Gamma spectrometry analysis indicated the presence of ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th in fly ash while in spent ion exchange resins showed the presence of activation and fission products i.e. ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁵²Eu, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁸Co, ⁶⁰Co and ⁶⁵Zn. The composition of the materials that made up the monolith was 10% (wt) of spent ion exchange resin, with a compressive strength of 6.1 MPa. The leaching rates of the radionuclides were used as indicators of immobilization performance of the solidified waste forms. The leaching test shows different leaching rates of ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, ²²⁶Ra, ⁶⁰Co and ⁴⁰K from the monolith geopolymer. The results show that immobilization of spent ion exchange resins using fly ash based geopolymer significantly affect the leaching rate of the radionuclides. This finding could in future benefits the treatment of low level and intermediate waste generated from nuclear power plant operation.

 

Keywords: spent ion exchange resins, geopolymer, fly ash, radioactive waste

 

Abstrak

Kajian makmal telah dijalankan untuk menilai kemungkinan pemegunan resin penukar ion terpakai menggunakan proses geopolimer berasaskan abu terbang yang telah disediakan pada suhu bilik. Objektif utama kajian ini adalah untuk menentukan kesesuaian pemegunan sisa radioaktif menggunakan geopolimer. Resin penukar ion terpakai dan abu terbang diperolehi daripada Reaktor PUSPATI TRIGA (RTP) dan Loji Janakuasa Salahuddin Sultan Abdul Aziz, Kapar, Selangor. Geopolimer ini diaktifkan dengan campuran larutan NaOH dan Na₂SO₃ pada suhu bilik. Analisis spektrometri gama didalam abu terbang menunjukkan kehadiran ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra dan ²³²Th manakala resin penukar ion terpakai menunjukkan kehadiran radionuklid pengaktifan dan pembelahan iaitu ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁵²Eu, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁸Co, ⁶⁰Co dan ⁶⁵Zn. Komposisi bahan yang membentuk monolit geopolimer adalah 10 % (berat) daripada resin penukar ion terpakai, dengan kekuatan mampatan sebanyak 6.1 MPa. Kadar larut lesap jangka panjang bagi radionuklid digunakan sebagai petunjuk prestasi pemegunan sisa radioaktif. Ujian larut lesap jangka panjang dari monolith geopolimer menunjukkan kadar larut lesap yang berbeza bagi setiap radionuklid berikut: ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, ²²⁶Ra, ⁶⁰Co dan ⁴⁰K. Keputusan menunjukkan bahawa pemegunan resin penukar ion terpakai menggunakan geopolimer berasaskan abu terbang memberi kesan ketara kepada kadar larut lesap monolith geopolimer. Penemuan ini boleh memberi manfaat kepada rawatan sisa tahap rendah dan sederhana pada masa depan yang dijana daripada operasi loji kuasa nuklear.

 

Kata kunci: resin penukar ion terpakai, geopolimer, abu terbang, sisa radioaktif

 

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