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Abstract
Managing certain by-products of the nuclear fuel cycle, such as the radioactive isotopes of caesium: 134Cs, 135Cs and 137Cs is challenging due to their environmental mobility and radioactivity. While a great many materials can isolate Cs+ ions from neutral or basic aqueous solutions via ion exchange, few of these, with the exception of ammonium phosphomolybdate (AMP), function effectively in acidic media. The use of AMP, and its porous composite in polyacrylonitrile (PAN) for management of Cs radioisotopes in various nuclear wastes have been known for decades and are well studied, yet the effects of radiation on the physiochemical properties of such composites have only received limited attention to date. In a previous publication, we demonstrated that a 100 kGy gamma irradiation dose has negligible effect on the ion exchange performance of AMP and AMP–PAN with respect to capacity or kinetics under the Cs+ concentrations and acidity found in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) recycling. As a continuation of this prior study, in this publication we explore the effects of gamma irradiation on the physiochemical properties of AMP and AMP–PAN using a range of characterisation methods. The effects of the same gamma dose on the oxidation state of Mo in AMP and AMP–PAN, the thermal degradation of both AMP and AMP–PAN, combined with a first study into the high-temperature degradation AMP, are reported. The implications of irradiation, its possible mechanism, the conditions present in SNF recycling, and for the end-of-life disposal or recycling of these materials are also discussed.
Highlights
In order to prevent catastrophic climate change, we must decrease our reliance on or even cease the use of fossil fuels for the generation of power and potentially other applications such as maritime shipping [1] to prevent further warming of the Earth [2]
The likely stability of ammonium phosphomolybdate (AMP)–PAN during the extraction of caesium from spent fuel dissolver liquor and during the interim storage when loaded with radiocaesium is discussed, as the results presented give an insight into the implications into this proposed use of the composite in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) reprocessing
Pawde et al suggested that this effect could be exploited as an internal dosimeter, resulting from the formation of conjugated C=N bonds and cyclisation reactions within the polymer structure, [38] though in the case of AMP–PAN, the vibrancy of AMP’s hue overpowers any colour change that could be observed in the PAN matrix, though for colourless or white composites, this factor could likely be exploited in applications such as those proposed here and previously by ourselves [21,22,30]
Summary
In order to prevent catastrophic climate change, we must decrease our reliance on or even cease the use of fossil fuels for the generation of power and potentially other applications such as maritime shipping [1] to prevent further warming of the Earth [2]. AMP is a dense, fine powder, often implemented as a porous composite in a polyacrylonitrile matrix (PAN) to facilitate column processing [18,19,23]. While both AMP and PAN are acid- and radiation-resistant, irradiation of both components has been characterised to a greater or lesser extent [24,25,26,27], and a significant volume of literature has studied the ion exchange performance of these compounds following irradiation [18,27,28,29,30]. AMP consists of a cubic crystalline unit cell containing the Keggin phosphomolybdate
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