Removal of nickel and strontium from simulated radioactive wastewater via a pellet coprecipitation-microfiltration process

In order to increase the decontamination factor (DF) and concentration factor (CF) for the treatment of radioactive wastewater, a pellet coprecipitation microfiltration process which aimed at removing the neutron activation product 63Ni and fission product 90Sr was studied. In this study average DFs were (4.60 ± 0.42) × 103 for nickel and 559 ± 24 for strontium, respectively. When about 1.8 m3 wastewater was treated, the sludge volume was significantly minimised after 24 h settling and CF reached over 1 × 103. DFs and CF values were improved by 1-2 orders of magnitude in this study compared with those achieved by conventional methods. (author)