• journal_title：Clay Minerals
• Contributor：V. A. Nikashina ; I. B. Serova ; E. M. Kats ; N. A. Tikhonov ; M. G. Tokmachev ; P. G. Novgorodov
• Publisher：Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
• Date：2011-
• Format：text/html
• Language：en
• Identifier：10.1180/claymin.2011.046.2.233
• journal_abbrev：Clay Minerals
• issn：0009-8558
• volume：46
• issue：2
• firstpage：233
• section：Articles

The anthropogenic accidents in the world (including the underground emergency nuclear explosion at the site “Kraton-3” (Yakutiya) and also the recent Fukushima accident) resulted in significant environmental pollution by radionuclides, mainly long-lived ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs. One of the ways to solve this problem is the creation of “permeable reactive barriers” (PRBs). High selectivity of clinoptilolite-containing tuffs (CLT) towards Sr²⁺ and Cs⁺ radionuclides, together with their availability and reasonable cost, make possible their use as PRBs. The scales of the ion-exchange processes taking place on PRBs indicate the necessity of mathematical modelling. In this connection, Sr²⁺ and Cs⁺ ion-exchange sorption on Khonguruu CLT (Yakutiya) from solutions of various mineralizations was studied under equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions. The physicochemical and mathematical models of the dynamic ion-exchange process and also the computer program considering both structural features of CLT (two-stage particle diffusion kinetics) and possible periodic interruptions of the process were developed. The breakthrough time of CLT as a geochemical barrier was calculated by such mathematical modelling.