Leaching properties and chemical composition of calcines produced at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant

No significant chemical differences were determined between retrieved and fresh calcine based on chemical and spectrochemical analyses. Little can be derived from the amounts of the radioisotopes present in the retrieved calcine samples other than the ratios of strontium-90 to cesium-137 are typical of aged fission product. The variations in concentrations of radionuclides within the composite samples of each bin also reflect the differences in compositions of waste solutions calcined. In general the leaching characteristics of both calcines by distilled water are similar. In both materials the radionuclides of cesium and strontium were selectively leached at significant rates, although cesium leached much more completely from the alumina calcine than from the zirconia calcine. Cesium and strontium are probably contained in both calcines as nitrate salts and also as fluoride salts in zirconia calcine, all of which are at least slightly soluble in water. Radionuclides of cerium, ruthenium, and plutonium in both calcines were highly resistant to leaching and leached at rates similar to or less than those of the matrix elements. These elements exist as polyvalent metal ions in the waste solutions before calcination and they probably form insoluble oxides and fluorides in the calcine. The relatively slow leaching of more » nitrate ion from zirconia calcine and radiocesium from both calcines suggests that the calcine matrix in some manner prevents complete or immediate contact of the soluble ions with water. Whether radiostrontium forms slightly fluoride salts or forms nitrate salts which are protected in the same manner as radiocesium is unknown. Nevertheless, selective leaching of cesium and strontim is retarded in some manner by the calcine matrix. « less