Safe trapping of Cs radionuclides in sintered matrix of zeolites

Abstract

Cesium aluminosilicate phases are of the great interest as possible host for Cs immobilization in radioactive waste management. The possibility to use zeolite as a host material for radioactive Cs immobilization was investigated. Cs-exchanged forms of clinoptilolite and 13X which were prepared by ion-exchange treatment were compacted. The powders compacts of exchanged zeolites were thermally treated at 1200 °C. The XRD analysis showed that Cs was successfully immobilized after heat treatment by formation of stable cesium-aluminosilicate ceramic forms. Thermal and mechanical properties of the sintered samples were investigated. From the perspective of these characteristics, Cs-exchanged zeolite (clinoptilolite and 13 X) can be considered as a potential material for safe waste disposal.