Radiation resistance of pyridine type anion exchange resins for spent fuel treatment

The resistance against radiation of the tertiary pyridine resins synthesized for the treatment of spent nuclear fuels and high level radioactive waste was evaluated. After irradiation at 10 MGy, only approximately 10% or less of the exchange groups were lost in HCl solutions regardless of their concentrations, while 30 similar to 40% were lost in HNO3. The pyridine resin has shown remarkable resistance against radiation particularly in HCl solution. It has been revealed that the decomposition of pyridine type resins results from the scission of the principal chains. An irradiation study was conducted also on the quaternary ammonium resins. Quaternization ratio was found to be reduced in HNO3 solutions at 10 MGy irradiation.