Ion exchange resins are commonly employed in the treatment of liquid radioactive waste generated in nuclear power plants (NPP). The ion exchange resin used in NPP is a mixed-bed ion exchange resin known as IRN-150, which is of nuclear grade. This resin is a mixture of cation exchange resin and anion exchange resin. The cation exchange resin removes cationic radionuclides such as Cs and Co, while anion exchange resin handles anions (e.g., H14CO3 -), effectively purifying the liquid waste. Spent ion exchange resins (spent resin) containing C-14 are classified as low and intermediate level radioactive waste, and their radioactivity needs to be reduced as it exceeds the disposal limit regulated by law. Therefore, the microwave technology for the removal of C-14 from spent resin has been investigated. Previous studies have successfully developed a method for the effective removal of C-14 during the resin treatment process. However, it was observed that, in this process, functional groups in the resin were also removed, resulting in the generation of off-gases containing trimethylamine. These off-gases can dissolve in water from process, increasing its pH, which can subsequently hinder the recovery of C-14. In this study, we investigated the high-purity recovery of C-14 by adjusting the moisture content within the reactor following microwave treatment. Mock spent resins, consisting of 100 g of resin with HCO3 - ion-exchanged and 0, 25, or 50 g of deionized water, were subjected to microwave treatment for 40 or 60 minutes. Subsequently, the C-14 desorption efficiency of the mock spent resins was evaluated using an acid stripping process with H3PO4 solution. The functional group status of the mock spent resins was analyzed using 15N NMR spectroscopy. The results showed that the mock spent resins exhibited efficient C-14 recovery without significant functional group degradation. The highest C-14 desorption efficiency was achieved when 25 g of deionized water was used during microwave treatment.

Spent ion exchange resins have been generated during the operation of nuclear facilities. These resins include radioactive nuclides. It is needed to fabricate them into a stable form for final disposal. Cement solidification process is a useful method for the fabrication of them into a waste form for final disposal. In this study, proper conditions for the fabrication of them into a stable waste form were determined using the cement solidification process. In-drum waste forms were then produced at the conditions, where the stability of representative samples was evaluated for final disposal. The samples were satisfied to the Waste Acceptance Criteria for low and intermediate level radioactive waste disposal sites. This result can be utilized to derive optimal conditions for the fabrication of spent ion exchange resins into a final disposal form.

Mixed-bed ion exchange resin consist of anion exchange resin and cation exchange resin is used to treat liquid radioactive waste in nuclear power plants. C-14 from heavy water reactors (HWR) is adsorbed on the anion exchange resin and is considered intermediate-level radioactive waste. The total amount of radioactivity of C-14 in spent ion exchange resin exceeds the activity limits for the disposal facility. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the radioactivity through pre-treatment. There are thermal and non-thermal methods for the treatment of spent ion exchange resin. However, destructive methods have the problem of emitting off-gas containing radionuclides. To solve this challenge, various methods have been developed such as acid stripping, PLO process, activity stripping, thermal treatment and others. In this study, spent ion exchange resin (spent resin) was treated using microwave. The reaction characteristics of the resin to microwave were used to selectively remove the C-14 on the functional groups. Simulated spent anion exchange resin and spent resin from Wolseong NPP were treated with the microwave method, and the desorption rate was over 95%. An integrated process system of 1 kg/batch was built to produce operating data. After the operation of the process, characterization and evaluation of post-treatment for condensate water and adsorbent used in the process were performed. When the process system was applied to treat simulated spent resin and real spent resin, both showed a desorption rated of more than 97%. It means that the C-14 was successfully removed from the radioactive spent resin.