Removal of uranium from contaminated soil using indoor electrokinetic decontamination

Indoor electrokinetic decontamination equipment was manufactured to treat 1.2 tons of uranium-contaminated soil. For a reduction of waste electrolyte and metal oxide, waste electrolyte was reused and the optimum pH was adjusted to minimize metal oxide volume in the cathode chamber. It was found that the optimum pH of the waste electrolyte in a cathode chamber was below 2.35 at 25 °C. When the initial uranium concentrations in the soils were 7.0–27.0 Bq/g, the reuse periods of waste electrolyte required for uranium concentrations in the soils to reach below 5.0 Bq/g were 5–25 days. In addition, when the initial concentrations in the soils were 7.0–20.0 Bq/g, the periods required to reach below the clearance concentration level were 25–40 days.