| abstract |
Soil comprising small soil particles, clay and silt particles, humus, fine vegetation, and contaminated with soluble or insoluble radioactive species is treated by first introducing an aqueous extracting solution comprising a mixture of sodium and potassium carbonate (or bicarbonate), or ammonium carbonate (or bicarbonate) into the soil to solubilize and disperse the radioactive species into solution; contaminated fine vegetation then is separated from the soil and extracting solution; next, an acid like hydrochloric acid is introduced into the soil in an amount sufficient to lower the pH of the extracting solution at which point desirable organic material will substantially precipitate or coagulate from the extracting solution; then the cleansed soil particles, including organic matter, is separated from the contaminated extracting solution. |