Evaluation of cerium(IV) catalyzed remediation of plutonium contaminated soils at the Idaho Cleanup Project

Abstract

SummaryAn engineering and analytical chemical program was used to evaluate a proposed process to remove plutonium from contaminated soils at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory Site. The design was based on the premise that the chemical process would be extremely efficient, reducing up to 250 nCi/g total transuranic contamination including both plutonium, in several chemical forms, and americium to less than 10 nCi/g. To ensure the effectiveness of the process on even heat-treated forms of plutonium, a very aggressive cerium IV catalyzed hot nitric acid leach step was used. Laboratory experiments showed that the chemistry could indeed remove plutonium, but due to the secondary wastes generated by coincident dissolution of the soil matrix, the process did not meet other design requirements.