Nuclear Energy: Ion-Exchange Sorbents for Solving Environmental Protection Problems

The status of nuclear power plants in the world is analyzed. Trends in the development of nuclear power in several countries are identified. Many reactors were shut down when their lifetimes expired. Issues with reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and minimization of its amount must be resolved. High- capacity (up to 70 wt%) porous polymer composite sorbents with ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene as the matrix and montmorillonite and zeolite NaX-n fillers have been produced using gel technology. The sorption kinetics of 137 Cs, 90 Sr, 90 Y by polymer-inorganic composite sorbents containing montmorillonite and zeolite NaX-n were studied. The sorption efficiency of these radionuclides was shown to be an order of magnitude greater than that of cation-exchanger KU-2-8, which allowed the quality of remediated radioactively contaminated water to be improved.