Possibility of removing radionuclides in landfill leachate using advanced wastewater treatment processes

Radionuclides released by the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are being partly concentrated to sewage sludge ash and waste ash. These ashes, in which radiocesium concentration is lower than 8000 Bq/kg, are being disposed of in a controlled landfill site. The leachate from the landfill site is treated in a leachate treatment system combined with some treatment steps before it is discharged into receiving water. In this study, in place of radionuclides, stable element concentrations in the leachate and treated water at each treatment step were measured to estimate the possible extent of radionuclide removal from the leachate step-by-step. It was found that Cs was not removed in any treatment steps, while more than 85% of the Sr, Co, Ni, and Mn present was removed in the alkaline earth element removal step. (author)