This project was conducted to determine if ionizing radiation could be used to catalytically destroy organics over semiconducting metal oxide particles. We focused primarily on the destruction of organic chelating agents, such as EDTA, which are known to hamper the separation of radionucleii (such as Sr or Am) from tank waste using current ion exchange methods. Our objective was to determine if ionizing radiation could be used to destroy the chelating capability of species such as EDTA, either by partially or completely decomposing the organic, in order to free radionucleii for efficient separation. Although a considerable amount of information is available in the open literature on the roles of visible/UV light in photocatalysis, little is known about the processes initiated by ionizing radiation. In this sense, the use of ionizing radiation is both novel, and may find an important niche in the pretreatment of mixed waste. An additional aim of the project was determine the mechanism(s) by which the radiocatalysis effect took place and compare it to what is know from visible and UV photocatalytic processes in the literature. The main outcome of this work is a more thorough evaluation of the use of ionizing radiation in the catalytic remediation of organics (and other problem species) in high-level mixed waste.
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