Removal of radioiodine from liquid effluents

Various methods have been evaluated for the removal of 131I from actual liquid waste received from a reactor and from simulated effluents containing the isotope. The options included both precipitation (along with silver iodide and bismuth hydroxide) and ion-exchange/adsorption (using anionic exchangers and activated carbon) processes. Of all the schemes, passing through anion exchange resin columns was found to be the most effective, indicating that iodine was present mostly as anions.