Advances in membrane technologies for the treatment of liquid radioactive waste

• The paper presents the review of recent advancements in liquid radioactive waste processing by membrane methods.
• Both laboratory scale and industrial applications are presented.
• Variety of applications in radioactive waste treatment is supported by author's experience in this field.
• The review proves a great potential of membrane processes for application in nuclear technology.

The work presents a review on the membrane methods recently introduced into the nuclear technology against the background of the other, commonly applied separation techniques, with indications of the possibilities and prospects for their further developments. Particular attention was paid to the pressure-driven processes, e.g., ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, which were studied in laboratory and pilot scales at Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw. Verification of the potential application of reverse osmosis in the industrial scale for the treatment of liquid low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes was accomplished with the installation designed and constructed for Radioactive Waste Management Plant at Świerk, Warsaw. A great attention was given to perspective membrane processes for the treatment of high-level liquid waste and partitioning of actinides, such as liquid membranes and membrane solvent extraction, as well as to membrane contactors that are modern apparatus approach for unit operations involving application of membranes.