Decontamination of solutions containing radioactive substances by dissolved air flotation

Residual solutions contaminated with radioactive species require special treatment methods as the low concentrations of contaminants which may have important effects on the environment do not allow the direct use of classical methods. The paper reports the results of studies to separate 226Ra(II) (0.73 Bq 1−1 concentration) by coprecipitation as Ba(Ra)SO4, followed by dissolved air flotation. The selection of the collector (by σ and ζ determinations), optimum pH, concentration of the reactants, maturation time have been studied.