Bench-scale electrokinetic remediation for cesium-contaminated sediment at the Hanford Site, USA

Abstract

We conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate the efficiency of electrokinetic (EK) remediation method for Hanford sediment (76 % sand and 24 % silt-clay) after artificial contamination with nonradioactive Cs-133 (0.01 M CsNO3) as a surrogate for radioactive 137 Cs. A significant removal of cationic Cs-133 from the sediment occurred from the cathode side (-), whereas the removal was negligible from the anode side (+) during the EK remediation process for 68 days. The experimental results suggest that the EK method can effectively remove radioactive Cs from the surface or subsurface sediment contaminated by radioactive materials in the Hanford Site, Washington, USA.