METHOD OF PROCESSING RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED METALS Russian patent published in 2015 - IPC G21F9/00 

FIELD: chemistry.

SUBSTANCE: decontamination is carried out via an electrochemical method using sulphuric acid with initial concentration of 15-20 g/l and adjusting concentration thereof to 1-2 g/ at the end of the process, neutralisation and alkalisation to pH 10.0-11.0 of the spent decontaminating solution using dispersed calcium oxide with particle size of 0.05-0.5 mm. Further, the solution separated from the residue is fortified with sulphuric acid to achieve concentration of 15-20 g/l and fed for decontamination. The invention also discloses hardening of liquid radioactive wastes, which are a suspension of metal hydroxides, calcium sulphate and calcium oxide.

EFFECT: high decontamination factor while realising a single-step decontamination process, low volume of the final conditioned wastes, low labour input and power consumption of the process, obtaining a metal ready for reuse or recycling by normal remelting, less secondary radioactive wastes.

2 cl, 1 dwg, 3 tbl, 3 ex