Magnetic extraction of radioactive contaminations from Chernobyl NPP regions

Preliminary experimental data on decontamination of the soil of a 30-km-zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant from radioactive contaminants by dry magnetic separation are presented. The facility used for performing the experiments is briefly described. The first run of experiments confirmed the feasibility of partial decontamination of various types of soils. The second run of experiments helped to clarify the effect of preheating (up to 500°C) and repeated decontamination of the soil samples on the degree of soil decontamination. As expected, the samples of initial activity of 100 Bq/g were decontaminated basically to permissible concentrations. An enhanced degree of ¹⁴⁴ Ce and ¹⁰⁶Ru decontamination seems to be associated with the fact that readily extractable fuel elements possess higher susceptibility than cesium