The removal of radioactive radium (Ra226) from chloride liquors by columnar ion exchange in the presence of calcium, magnesium and iron cations

The purpose of this work was to study the feasibility of controlling the discharge of soluble Ra226, in the presence of Ca, Mg and Fe cations in synthetic chloride effluents, by adsorption on cation exchange resins to decrease Ra226-concentrations to federal environmental levels of 10 pCi Ra226/litre. Environmentally acceptable effluents were produced from synthetic chloride feed liquors containing 10 ppm Ca, 5 ppm Mg, 120 ppm Fe plus 20,000 pCi Ra226/litre. Environmentally acceptable effluents were not produced, by cation exchange, from a synthetic chloride liquor containing 490 ppm Ca, 97 ppm Mg, 720 ppm Fe in addition to 20,000 pCi Ra226/litre. The mass interference of the Ca + Mg + Fe cation concentrations in the feed liquor was in over-powering competition, for resin sites, with the Ra226-cations. To obtain realistic data, the adsorption process should be reexamined using a chloride liquor produced under optimal chloride leaching conditions of an Elliot Lake uranium ore. This would, in all probability, reveal other cations unavailable in the synthetic chloride liquors