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General filtration bed design for water contaminated with radioactive cesium
Citation:
Magnuson, M., M. Kaminski, AND K. Hepler. General filtration bed design for water contaminated with radioactive cesium. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/S-23/043, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
This technical brief provides decision makers with practical information that could be useful for managing and treating decontamination wash water generated during remediation activities following a radioactive cesium contamination incident. Research results related to designing filtration beds and processing the contaminated water are summarized. The timely decontamination of high-density urban areas is critical in the face of a terror event involving radioactive cesium (Cs), which has a 30-year half-life with an energetic 662 keV gamma ray released during decay. This technical brief is intended for local, state and federal agents along with emergency management and environmental response personnel to aid in the clean-up after the detonation of a dirty bomb. It describes how to design a filtration bed to remove radioactive Cs from collected decontamination wash waters. [1] The model described here assumes all incoming radioactive cesium is in the dissolved ionic form (Cs+). Caution must be exercised if small, radioactive particulate (<20-40 micrometers mean diameter) are present as these might pass through the filtration bed and require additional clarification to completely remove the radioactivity from the recycled water.
Description:
The timely decontamination of high-density urban areas is critical in the face of a terror event involving radioactive cesium (Cs), which has a 30- year half-life with an energetic 662 keV gamma ray released during decay. This technical brief is intended for local, state and federal agents along with emergency management and environmental response personnel to aid in clean-up after the detonation of a dirty bomb. It describes how to design a filtration bed to remove radioactive Cs from collected decontamination wash waters.