Activity Treatment of Some Long-Lived Radioactive Nuclides Using Thermal Neutron Incineration

Hassanain H. Alkazzaz; Asia H. Al-Mashhadani; Kamal H. Lateef

doi:10.24996/ijs.2023.64.6.16

Authors

Hassanain H. Alkazzaz Department of physics, College of science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Asia H. Al-Mashhadani Department of physics, College of science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Kamal H. Lateef Chairman of Iraqi Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority, Baghdad, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24996/ijs.2023.64.6.16

Keywords:

radioactive waste treatment, neutron capture, 137Cs, 133Ba, 152Eu, 90Sr, 226Ra, 241Am, radioactive sources incineration

Abstract

In the present work, the possibility of treating many types of radioactive sources was examined practically. Six types of sealed radioactive sources were selected: ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³³Ba, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹⁵²Eu, ²²⁶Ra, and ²⁴¹Am. The sources were exposed to a neutron flux emitted from ²⁴¹Am/Be source for 33 days. The results showed a measurable reduction of activity for ²²⁶Ra, ²⁴¹Am, and ¹⁵²Eu, while the other radionuclides, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³³Ba, and ⁹⁰Sr, showed less response to neutron incineration.