Thorium Removal, Recovery and Recycling: A Membrane Challenge for Urban Mining.

Although only a slightly radioactive element, thorium is considered extremely toxic because its various species, which reach the environment, can constitute an important problem for the health of the population. The present paper aims to expand the possibilities of using membrane processes in the removal, recovery and recycling of thorium from industrial residues reaching municipal waste-processing platforms. The paper includes a short introduction on the interest shown in this element, a weak radioactive metal, followed by highlighting some common (domestic) uses. In a distinct but concise section, the bio-medical impact of thorium is presented. The classic technologies for obtaining thorium are concentrated in a single schema, and the speciation of thorium is presented with an emphasis on the formation of hydroxo-complexes and complexes with common organic reagents. The determination of thorium is highlighted on the basis of its radioactivity, but especially through methods that call for extraction followed by an established electrochemical, spectral or chromatographic method. Membrane processes are presented based on the electrochemical potential difference, including barro-membrane processes, electrodialysis, liquid membranes and hybrid processes. A separate sub-chapter is devoted to proposals and recommendations for the use of membranes in order to achieve some progress in urban mining for the valorization of thorium.

Performance evaluation of radon monitors at IFIN-HH, Romania.

Starting in 2022, the calibration of various radon monitors received from customers was performed for the first time in Romania by LMRI at IFIN-HH, designated by CNCAN as a calibration laboratory. The purpose of the study was to analyze the radon monitors responses and their uncertainties, and finally compare their performance with the standard radon monitor AlphaGuard in order to improve the calibration process in the future. Measurement results and the uncertainty budgets are presented in the paper.

Intercomparison of Radon Flux Monitors at Low and at High Radium Content Areas under Field Conditions.

Interlaboratory exercises are a good tool to compare the response of different systems to the same quantity and to identify possible inconsistencies between them. One of the main goals of the EMPIR 19ENV01 traceRadon project is to harmonize radon flux measurements based on different systems and methodologies. In the framework of the traceRadon Project, two radon flux intercomparison campaigns were carried out in October 2021 at high and at low radon source areas. Four institutions participated in the field intercomparison exercises with their own systems. Every system was based on a specific radon monitor (diffusion or pump mode) and an accumulation chamber (with manual or automatic opening). Radon fluxes were calculated by each participant using both exponential and linear fittings of the radon activity concentration measured over time within the accumulation chambers. The results of this study show mainly: (i) the exponential approach is not advisable due to the variability of the radon flux and the leakage of the systems during long-time measurements; (ii) the linear approach should be applied to minimize the measurement period in agreement with the time response and sensitivity of the monitors; (iii) radon flux measured at high radon source areas (radium content of about 800 Bq kg-1) risks being underestimated because of the influence of advective effects; (iv) radon flux measured at low radon source areas (radium content of about 30 Bq kg-1) may present large uncertainties if sensitive radon monitors with pump mode are not used.

Operational Limits of the Bulk Hybrid Liquid Membranes Based on Dispersion Systems.

Liquid membranes usually have three main constructive variants: bulk liquid membranes (BLM), supported liquid membranes (SLM) and emulsion liquid membranes (ELM). Designing hybrid variants is very topical, with the main purpose of increasing the flow of substance through the membrane but also of improving the selectivity. This paper presents the operational limits of some kind of hybrid membrane constituted as a bulk liquid membrane (BLM), but which works by dispersing the aqueous source (SP) and receiving (RP) phases, with the membrane itself being a dispersion of nanoparticles in an organic solvent (NP-OSM). The approached operational parameters were the volume of phases of the hybrid membrane system, the thickness of the liquid membrane, the working temperature, the flow of aqueous phases, the droplet size of the aqueous phases dispersed across the membrane, the nature and concentration of nanoparticles in the membrane, the pH difference between the aqueous phases, the nature of the organic solvent, the salt concentration in the aqueous phases and the nature of transported chemical species. For this study, silver ion (SI) and p-nitrophenol (PNP) were chosen as transportable chemical species, the n-aliphatic alcohols (C6…C12) as membrane organic solvents, 10-undecenoic acid (UDAc) and 10-undecylenic alcohol (UDAl) as carriers and magnetic iron oxides as nanoparticles dispersed in the membrane phase. Under the experimentally established operating conditions, separation efficiencies of over 90% were obtained for both ionic and molecular chemical species (silver ions and p-nitrophenol). The results showed the possibility of increasing the flow of transported chemical species by almost 10 times for the silver ion and approximately 100 times for p-nitrophenol, through the appropriate choice of operational parameters, but they also exposed their limits in relation to the stability of the membrane system.

Transport and Separation of the Silver Ion with n-decanol Liquid Membranes Based on 10-undecylenic Acid, 10-undecen-1-ol and Magnetic Nanoparticles.

This paper presents a transport and recovery of silver ions through bulk liquid membranes based on n-decanol using as carriers 10-undecylenic acid and 10-undecylenyl alcohol. The transport of silver ions across membranes has been studied in the presence of two types of magnetic oxide nanoparticles obtained by the electrochemical method with iron electrodes in the electrolyte with and without silver ions, which act as promoters of turbulence in the membrane. Separation of silver ions by bulk liquid membranes using 10-undecylenic acid and 10-undecylenyl alcohol as carriers were performed by comparison with lead ions. The configuration of the separation module has been specially designed for the chosen separation process. Convective-generating magnetic nanoparticles were characterized in terms of the morphological and structural points of view: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution SEM (HR-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis (EDAX), Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry and magnetization. The process performance (flux and selectivity) was tested were tested for silver ion transport and separation through n-decanol liquid membranes with selected carriers. Under the conditions of the optimized experimental results (pH = 7 of the source phase, pH = 1 of the receiving phase, flow rate of 30 mL/min for the source phase and 9 mL/min for the receiving phase, 150 rot/min agitation of magnetic nanoparticles) separation efficiencies of silver ions of over 90% were obtained for the transport of undecenoic acid and about 80% for undecylenyl alcohol.

60 years of absolute standardization of radionuclides by coincidence counting methods in the Romanian metrology laboratory.

This review paper presents the contribution of the Radionuclide Metrology Laboratory (RML) to the development and practical application of the coincidence counting methods. It is also intended to pay tribute to Dr. Enric Leon Grigorescu, the founder of our school of radionuclide metrology. A synthetic treatment of the method, applied to some classes of radionuclides with their common and particular aspects in standardization, is presented: pioneering calculation of instrumental corrections, specific method corrections applied for various types of decay schemes in the variant of efficiency extrapolation, results obtained in international comparisons.

Absolute standardization of 57Co and analysis of the results obtained in two international comparisons.

The absolute standardization of Co-57 by the 4π(PC)-γ coincidence method, in efficiency extrapolation variant, is presented. An original, improved method, based on the use of the equivalent decay scheme, was applied; apart from the enhancement of efficiency, a diminution of extrapolation slope was obtained, lowering the extrapolation uncertainty. The results obtained in the participation at the supplementary comparison CCRI(II)-S6.Co-57 and at the key comparison code BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Co-57 are presented. The method allows to simplify the treatment of 56Co and 58Co impurities' correction, which influences significantly the measurements in a CENTRONIC type ionization chamber. An example of treatment of this mixture, where the influence of impurities on results was analyzed, will be presented.

230U nuclear decay data evaluation.

The evaluation of the nuclear decay data of 230U, a radionuclide of interest in nuclear medicine (targeted alpha therapy), was performed within the Decay Data Evaluation Project (DDEP) and an IAEA Coordinated Research Project. The nuclear decay data presented are: the half-life, decay energy, alpha-particle emission energies and probabilities, internal conversion coefficients and gamma-ray energies and emission intensities. These new data, obtained using the DDEP methodology and software tools, will be included in the DDEP database NUCLEIDE.

Experimental determination of some nuclear decay data in the decays of (177)Lu, (186)Re and (124)I.

A detailed experimental study of the radionuclides (177)Lu, (186)Re and (124)I was conducted at IFIN-HH, Radionuclide Metrology Laboratory. Absolute photon emission intensities in the decays of these radionuclides were measured by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. Half-life measurements using a well-type ionization chamber were also performed. These new experimental results will be useful for the future updates of the existing nuclear decay data evaluations, offering reliable and accurate data for the users.