Study of the migration behaviour of uranium in reactive barriers

A radioindicator technique was used to investigate the migration behaviour of uranyl ions in layers containing adsorptive agents mixed with sand. A solution of uranyl nitrate prepared from natural uranium was doped with uranium ions activated by photonuclear reaction and was allowed to pass through columns containing different sorbents mixed with coarse grain sand. The path of the uranium through the column was traced by cyclic scanning measurements of the γ ray emission of the radioisotope from outside the column. An initial condition for the representativeness of the values obtained is equal migration behaviour of the natural uranium and the radiotracer. The aim of this work was to investigate the retention potential of the sorbents under study against uranium ions. Using a radioindicator has the advantage that firstly no sampling is necessary since the measurement is carried out non-invasively, secondly, since the measurement can be performed on a continuous scale at any level of the column, the resolution of the concentration function can be selected as desired and thirdly, the sensitivity of measurement can be enhanced as required, without using excessive analyte concentrations, by providing a correspondingly large specific activity of the radioindicator. Moreover, the matrix background does not interfere, since it is not activated