Extraction of Co, Sr and Cs from Radioactive Waste Using Microcrystalline Naphthalene

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Most of the procedures developed for the extraction of cobalt, strontium and cesium by solid phase extraction do not employ simultaneous extraction of them. In this study, rapid simultaneous removal of cobalt, strontium and cesium ions on microcrystalline naphthalene was investigated in batch system. These ions were allowed to form chelates with 8-hydroxyquinoline (oxine) and then adsorbed on macrocrystalline naphthalene from aqueous solutions. The effects of different parameters such as variation in pH, reagent concentration, standing time, naphthalene solution concentration and stirring time on the removal of these ions were studied. The percentage removals of these ions were found to be almost 100 %. The developed procedure has been successfully applied to the removal and recovery of cobalt, ٍٍstrontium and cesium from liquid radioactive waste. The naphthalene can be recycled in the process after removing ions with a solution of HCl.

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