Date of Award
Summer 7-22-2021
Track
Chemistry
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Chemical Sciences (MSCB)
Department
Chemistry
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Daniel Ferreira
Committee Member
Bharat Baruah
Committee Member
Altug Poyraz
Abstract
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Powerplant was struck by an earthquake and a tsunami resulting in the meltdown of four of the six reactor cores operating at the plant. As a result, nuclear waste was released from the plant, contaminating the soil in the region. Most of the contamination was sequestered within the few inches of the soil but unluckily the contamination, radiocesium formed a non-exchangeable bond. The Japanese government bagged this soil and has stored it in fields surrounding the exclusion zone. Long-term storage facilities have not been determined. This is a study of the available resources to determine if, in fact, the soil can be chemically treated to the point that it can be stored in a normal hazardous waste facility. The study proposes to utilize a ligand to capture the cesium with a higher binding affinity and remove it from the equilibrium by precipitation possibly forcing the exchange of the “non-exchangeable” ion.
Included in
Analytical Chemistry Commons, Environmental Chemistry Commons, Inorganic Chemistry Commons, Other Environmental Sciences Commons