DISTRIBUTION OF 14 ELEMENTS FROM 2 SOLUTIONS SIMULATING HANFORD HLW TANK 102-SY (ACID-DISSOLVED SLUDGE AND ACIDIFIED SUPERNATE) ON 4 CATION-EXCHANGE RESINS AND 5 ANION-EXCHANGE RESINS HAVING DIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL-GROUPS

As part of the Tank Waste Remediation System program at Los Alamos, we evaluated a series of cation exchange and anion exchange resins for t heir ability to remove hazardous components from radioactive high-leve l waste (HLW). The anion exchangers were Reillex(TM) HPQ, a polyvinylp yridine resin, and four strong-base polystyrene resins having trimethy l, triethyl tripropyl, and tributyl amine as their respective function al groups. The cation exchange resins included Amberlyst(TM) 15 and Am berlyst XN-1010 with sulfonic acid functionality, Duolite(TM) C-467 wi th phosphonic acid functionality, and polyfunctional Diphonix(TM) with diphosphonic add, sulfonic add, and carboxylic acid functionalities. We measured the distributions of 14 elements on these resins from solu tions simulating acid-dissolved sludge (pH 0.6) and acidified supernat e (pH 3.5) from underground storage tank 102-SY at the Hanford Reserva tion near Richland, Washington, USA. To these simulants, we added the appropriate radionuclides and used gamma spectrometry to measure fissi on products (Ce, Cs, Sr, Tc, and Y), actinides (U, Pu, and Am), and ma trix elements (Cr, Co, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Zr). For each of the 252 elemen t/resin/solution combinations, distribution coefficients (Kds) were me asured for dynamic contact periods of 30 minutes, 2 hours, and 6 hours to obtain information about sorption kinetics from these complex medi a. Because we measured the sorption of many different elements, the ta bulated results indicate which unwanted elements are most likely to in terfere with the sorption of elements of special interest. On the basi s of these 756 measured Kd values, we conclude that some of the tested resins appear suitable for partitioning hazardous components from Han ford HLW.