Development of volume-reduction system for ion exchange resin using inductively coupled plasma

The spent ion exchange resin generated as radioactive waste in water purifying system at nuclear power stations or related facilities of nuclear power has been stored in the site, and its volume has been increasing year by year. We had developed a full-scale system of IC plasma volume-reduction system for the spent resin, and have performed basic performance test using some samples imitating the spent resin. As the results, the imitation of the resin can be reduced in volume by more than 90% so that the processing performance in actual scale was proved to be effective. In addition, it was clarified that the residuum after volume-reduction process is easy to mix with cement, and solidity containing 30wt% residuum provides high strength of 68 MPa. Therefore, we evaluate the application of this process to stabilization of the disposal to be very effective. (author)