THE USE OF ZEOLITES AS AMENDMENTS IN RADIOCESIUM-CONTAMINATED AND RADIOSTRONTIUM-CONTAMINATED SOILS - A SOIL-CHEMICAL APPROACH .2. SR-CA EXCHANGE IN CLINOPTILOLITE, MORDENITE, AND ZEOLITE-A

A study was made on the ion exchange behavior of radiostrontium in a n atural clinoptilolite and mordenite and in the synthetic zeolite A, us ing batch experiments over 20 days. The overall radiostrontium adsorpt ion potential of these zeolites was measured, and the relative effect of Mg and K ions on the radiostrontium adsorption potential was assess ed. A multisite model was applied to describe the change of the Sr-Ca selectivity coefficient as a function of the Sr-loading. The relevance of these results in regard to the potential use of these zeolites as countermeasure amendments in radiostrontium contaminated soils is disc ussed. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1997.