Effect of irradiation on AMP based resins for cesium separation from HNO3 feed solutions: batch and column studies

Three different resins containing ammonium molybdophosphate (AMP), viz. PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) resin, composite AMP resin and ALIX (a bisphenol based resin), were evaluated for their irradiation stability. The studies included batch as well as column studies and were carried out for cesium uptake behaviour at 3 M acidity. The resin beads were irradiated to varying dose viz., 0 MRad, 10 MRad, 20 MRad, 50 MRad and 100 MRad. The time taken to attain equilibrium was rather long and about 2–5 h were found to be required for attaining equilibrium in batch studies. Batch Cs(I) uptake studies revealed no significant effect on the K _d values in case of the PMMA resin while in case of the composite resin and ALIX resin, a decrease in the K _d was observed as a function of irradiation dose. The resin capacity indicated contrasting behaviour with irradiation dose for the resins. Column runs have been carried out for the uptake of radio cesium using both unirradiated and irradiated resins using feed solutions containing 3 MHNO₃. The loading capacities of the resins were found to be proportional to their Cs loading capacities observed in batch studies. Study revealed that the composite AMP had the maximum and PMMA has the least loading capacity. Results of these studies show that these AMP based resins can be used for cesium separation from acidic nuclear waste.