Qualification of corroborated real phytoremediated radioactive wastes under leaching and other weathering parameters

Abstract This work presents a comprehensive study for treatment and solidification of hazardous wastes; as major outcome, Portland cement was not only revealed as feasible and inexpensive material for immobilization of hazardous and radioactive waste, but, in addition, the efficiency of aquatic plants for treatment of contaminated waste water was demonstrated. It is most important to stabilize real hazardous waste such as a secondary waste generated by the purification of water or other effluents contaminated with toxic metals or radionuclides by promising novel treatment technologies like phytoremediation or biomass adsorption. Phytoremediation as clean technology has gained interest and wide applications in the last decade. This green technology is environment-friendly compared to conventional remediation techniques. Portland cement was utilized in this study to immobilize the selected biological waste, namely; dried plants of Ludwigia stolonifera. Three parameters were followed to estimate the mechanical, physical and chemical stability of the solidified waste. These parameters were studied under several variables and supported by mechanical, chemical, spectroscopic and scanning investigations. The results confirmed that at both conditions; exposure to 90 freezing/thawing cycles and 6 months immersion in water of different compositions, non-significant reduction in the mechanical integrity of the solidified waste samples was detected compared to the control sample. Moreover, chemical stability was investigated by monitoring the release of Cs137 to the surrounding aqueous media; the cumulative mass fraction of leached Cs137 was less than 0.06 under diverse conditions.