Studies on decontamination of spent ion exchange resin used for plutonium purification in PUREX stream

This paper deals with the studies on decontaminations of spent ion exchange resin used for purification of plutonium in PUREX process stream. Studies were carried out to optimize the chemical procedure for removal of plutonium and fission products activities form spent Ion Exchange resin. Different metal complexing reagents were tested for leaching out of radionuclides entrapped in irradiated spent ion exchange resin. The experimental results indicate that 0.01 M NaF solution was found the most suitable for removal of plutonium. The mixture of Na2CO3 and sodium salt of EDTA solution was found to be better for decontamination of spent ion exchange resin from beta and gamma activities. Optimized mixture of 0.5 M Na2CO3 and 0.1 M sodium salt of EDTA solution was found to be the most effective for fission product activities removal. After successive multiple contacts using these suitable reagents, the Pu and fission product activities in spent ion exchange resin were brought down to a minimum possible level, making it quite suitable for its long term storage. (author)