Radioactive iodine-129 contamination of soil and groundwater near the center of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River site in South Carolina, a legacy of plutonium and tritium production during the Cold War era, is being reduced with a silver chloride-based cleanup process to levels well below regulatory limits.

Field tests completed by technology developer and cleanup contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions confirms that injection of silver chloride beneath a portion of the site reduced iodine-129 by up to 50%. The passive cleanup technology generates no additional waste and consumes no external power.

Ultra-fine particles of silver chloride with irregular edges are injected with water into the water table as deep as 60 ft below the surface. A total of 240,000 gallons of water and 165 gallons of silver chloride have been injected to date.

Researchers drill for soil samples as part of a project to immobilize iodine-129 in groundwater and soil at the Savannah River site. Source: Savannah River Nuclear SolutionsResearchers drill for soil samples as part of a project to immobilize iodine-129 in groundwater and soil at the Savannah River site. Source: Savannah River Nuclear Solutions

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