Abstract
This study concerns treatment of phosphogypsum (PG) waste from phosphoric acid production, containing 226Ra as major radioactive contaminant. Physical and chemical treatment was performed. The physical treatment was based on the particle size separation (dry and wet frationation), whereas the chemical treatment was carried out using leaching solutions (single and sequential leaching processes). The results showed that the particle size separation affected the distribution of radionuclides in PG waste. High enrichment fators (Q) of 226Ra and 210Pb were obtained in the wet fractionation. The Q value for 226Ra and 210Pb was 3.1 and 3.9 compared to the PG bulk. The chemical leaching conditions of PG waste were optimized. In the single chemical leaching, 40% of total radium-226 in PG was removed. In the sequential leaching, about 87% of 226Ra was removed when the PG waste was washed with alkali solutions and pretreated and leached with a nitric acid solution.
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