ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ
Scientists of the V.I. Vernadskii Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine developed a method of electrochemical removal of radionuclide contamination from the surfaces of the technological equipment of nuclear power plants. The method was successfully...
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| author | Omelchuk, Anatoliy |
| author_facet | Omelchuk, Anatoliy |
| author_institution_txt_mv | [
{
"author": "Anatoliy Omelchuk",
"institution": "Institute of General & Inorganic Chemistry of NASU, Department of Electrochemistry and Technology of Inorganic Materials"
}
] |
| author_sort | Omelchuk, Anatoliy |
| baseUrl_str | https://ucj.org.ua/index.php/journal/oai |
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| datestamp_date | 2026-07-22T08:23:46Z |
| description | Scientists of the V.I. Vernadskii Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine developed a method of electrochemical removal of radionuclide contamination from the surfaces of the technological equipment of nuclear power plants. The method was successfully tested at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and on the Research Nuclear Reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Based on the results of the tests, a device for the electrochemical decontamination of metal surfaces of equipment in non-stationary conditions was created and design and technological documentation for its serial production was developed. |
| doi_str_mv | 10.33609/2708-129X.87.04.2021.111-116 |
| first_indexed | 2025-09-24T17:43:38Z |
| format | Article |
| fulltext |
111
UDC 544.6 doi: 10.33609/2708-129X.87.04.2021.111-116
HOW TO ISOLATE RADIONUCLIDES?
ON THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PURIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL
EQUIPMENT FROM RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION —
DEVELOPMENT BY CHEMISTS OF THE ACADEMY.
A. Omelchuk1
1 V. I. Vernadskii Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine, Akad. Palladin ave, 32/34, Kyiv, 03142, Ukraine
e-mail: omelchuk@ionc.kiev.ua
Abstract. Scientists of the V.I. Vernadskii Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine developed a method of electrochemical removal
of radionuclide contamination from the surfaces of the technological equipment of nuclear
power plants. The method was successfully tested at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and
on the Research Nuclear Reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Research of the National Acade-
my of Sciences of Ukraine. Based on the results of the tests, a device for the electrochemical
decontamination of metal surfaces of equipment in non-stationary conditions was created
and design and technological documentation for its serial production was developed.
Key words: radionuclide contamination, nuclear power, electrochemical removal, surface,
technological equipment.
Ukraine has its own nuclear power, which
it will develop in the future. Therefore, the ur-
gent tasks are to ensure a high level of safety
of service personnel, to reduce environmental
pressure on the environment. According to
regulations, the equipment of nuclear power
plants and experimental reactors (heat ex-
change equipment, pipelines and connections,
devices for loading fuel elements, etc.) should
be periodically inspected for damage and pre-
ventive repairs. During operation, this equip-
ment is contaminated with radionuclides, be-
coming a source of increased operating and the
environment, so it requires decontamination.
Given the events at the Chornobyl Nuclear
Power Plant (ChNPP) in 1986, the problem of
decontamination of technological equipment
in Ukraine is even more acute than in any
other country in the world. The need to decon-
taminate particularly valuable equipment and
machinery requires the creation of effective
technologies and equipment that would meet
international standards.
Radionuclides accumulate mainly in the
defects (microcracks and microcavities) of the
surface layer of equipment formed by oxide
HOW TO ISOLATE RADIONUCLIDES? ON THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PURIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT
FROM RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION — DEVELOPMENT BY CHEMISTS OF THE ACADEMY.
112 ISSN 2708-129X. Укр. хім. журн., 2021
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
compounds. They (radionuclides) can be re-
moved by mechanical, chemical and electro-
chemical methods. The thickness of this layer
is estimated at about 50 μm.
Analysis of the current state of the problem
showed that among the currently known me
thods of removing radionuclide contamination
(these include chemical, mechanical, abrasive
and electrochemical), only the electrochemical
method provides high dissolution of the sur-
face layer and high-quality decontamination
at low specific consumption of reagents and
electricity retaining the inital shape, size, qua
lity of processing and mechanical properties of
equipment surfaces.
The essence of electrochemical decontami
nation is to destroy the surface layer of con-
taminated equipment under the action of elec-
tric current (direct current, alternating current
and alternating polarity) and to convert the
elements that form it into compounds that ac-
cumulate in the solutions by which this opera-
tion is performed.
It should be noted that the known methods
of electrochemical removal of radionuclides in
stationary conditions are practically not suit-
able for the decontamination of equipment of
large overall dimensions. Such equipment re-
quires the creation of baths of appropriate size,
which causes high specific consumption of re-
agents and electricity, does not provide the re-
moval of radionuclides from internal surfaces
(eg, pipe surfaces).
The specialists of the VI Vernadskii Insti-
tute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine have
developed a device that avoids these shortcom-
ings.
The essence of the development is that the
surface to be decontaminated is connected
to the positive pole of a direct current (DC)
source (or made one of the electrodes if al-
ternating current AC is used). The cathode,
which contacts the anode through a layer of
porous dielectric material saturated with solu-
tion with which radionuclides are removed,
is moved with it by translational movements
(Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. The principle of extraction of radionuclides in the remote electrode mode from open (in the
scheme on the left) and internal (on the right) surfaces.
A. Omelchuk
113https://ucj.org.ua
UCJ № 4 / Vol. 87
The remote electrode (cathode) developed
by scientists is equipped with a telescopic rod
on which devices providing electric current
supply, continuous supply of solution to a po-
rous dielectric, movement of the anode surface
with the any inclination, fast replacement of
the porous material when it is saturated with
radionuclides are mounted, it prevents the ser-
vice personnel from contact with the source of
radioactive contamination (Photo 1).
Photo 1. General view of the remote electrode (left) and the working area without porous material.
Radionuclides that go into solution dur-
ing electrolysis accumulate in the porous ma-
terial. As the porous material, silica or basalt
multilayer fabrics are recommended. They
have a high ability to retain working solutions
and sorb radionuclides that pass into solution
during electrochemical treatment. The spe-
cific consumption of the solution when using
these materials is estimated at approximately
3–4 ml / dm2 of surface. In contrast to the sta-
tionary mode, the developed method allows to
decontaminate the equipment without disas-
sembly at the place of operation and without
size restrictions.
In contrast to electrochemical decontami
nation in stationary baths, which is accompa-
nied by the accumulation of significant volu
mes of spent solutions contaminated with
radionuclides, which, in turn, requires addi-
tional operations of decontamination, the use
of a remote electrode allows to localize radio-
nuclide contamination in small volumes of po-
rous dielectric materials suitable for long-term
storage or regeneration.
The equipment was created by scientists of
the V. I. Vernadskii Institute of General and
Inorganic Chemistry of the National Acade-
my of Sciences of Ukraine and has been test-
ed together with colleagues from the Research
Nuclear Reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Re-
search of the National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine (Photo 2, 4).
HOW TO ISOLATE RADIONUCLIDES? ON THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PURIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT
FROM RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION — DEVELOPMENT BY CHEMISTS OF THE ACADEMY.
114 ISSN 2708-129X. Укр. хім. журн., 2021
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Photo 2. During electrochemical decontamination experiments and discussion of the results ob-
tained at the Chornobyl NPP (left) and on the Research Reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Research of
the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (right).
Photo 3. Fragments of equipment after electrochemical decontamination.
The obtained results showed that electro-
chemical decontamination allows to reduce
the level of surface contamination of various
fragments of technological equipment to the
standarts that allow safe operation by service
personnel.
A. Omelchuk
115https://ucj.org.ua
UCJ № 4 / Vol. 87
Authors of development:
Anatoliy Omelchuk − Head of the Depart-
ment of Electrochemistry and Technology of
Inorganic Materials VI Vernadskii Institute of
General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Corre-
sponding Member of the National Academy of
Sciences of Ukraine
Inna Yudenkova − Senior Researcher of this
department, Candidate of Chemical Scien
ces (Ph.D), V. I. Vernadskii Institute of Ge
neral and Inorganic Chemistry of the National
Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Mykola Maslo − Associate Professor of
Theoretical Mechanics of the National Univer-
sity of Food Technologies, Candidate of Tech-
nical Sciences (Ph.D).
Valery Shevel − Deputy Chief Engineer of
the Research Nuclear Reactor of the Institute
of Nuclear Research of the National Academy
of Sciences of Ukraine, Candidate of Technical
Sciences (Ph.D) (Photo 4).
The work was commissioned by the Na
tional Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ?
ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНО-
ЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІД-
НОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ
АКАДЕМІЇ.
А. Омельчук1
1 Інститут загальної та неорганічної хімії
ім. В. І. Вернадського НАН України, просп.
Акад. Палладіна 32/34, Київ 03142, Україна
e-mail: omelchuk@ionc.kiev.ua
Науковці Інституту загальної та неорга-
нічної хімії ім. В. І. Вернадського НАН Ук
раїни розробили метод електрохімічного
вилучення радіонуклідного забруднення
з поверхонь технологічного обладнання
атомних електростанцій. Суть електрохі-
мічної дезактивації полягає у руйнуванні
поверхневого шару забрудненого облад
нання під дією електричного струму (по-
стійного, змінного струму та змінної по-
лярності) та переведенні елементів, які
Photo 4. From left to right: Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Anatoliy Omelchuk, Candidate of Chemical Sciences Inna Yudenkova, Candidate of Technical Sciences
Mykola Maslo, Candidate of Technical Sciences Valery Shevel.
HOW TO ISOLATE RADIONUCLIDES? ON THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PURIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT
FROM RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION — DEVELOPMENT BY CHEMISTS OF THE ACADEMY.
116 ISSN 2708-129X. Укр. хім. журн., 2021
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
його утворюють, у сполуки, що накопичу-
ються в розчинах, за допомогою яких вико-
нують цю операцію. Метод пройшов успіш-
ну апробацію на Чорнобильській атомній
електростанції та Дослідницькому ядерно-
му реакторі Інституту ядерних досліджень
НАН України. За підсумками випробувань
створено пристрій для електрохімічної де-
зактивації металевих поверхонь обладнан-
ня у нестаціонарних умовах і розроблено
конструкторсько-технологічну документа-
цію для його серійного виготовлення.
Ключові слова: забруднення радіонук
лідами, ядерна енергетика, електрохімічне
видалення, поверхня, технологічне облад-
нання.
PUBLICATIONS AND PATENTS OF AUTHORS
1. Omel’chuk A.O., Yudenkova І.M., She
vel’ V.M. Elektrohіmіchna dezaktivacіya ra
dіoaktivno zabrudnenogo tekhnologіchno-
go obladnannya. Nauka ta іnnovacii. 2012.
8(1): 77–86. (in Ukrainian).
2. Omel’chuk A.O., Yudenkova І.M., She
vel’ V.M., Maslo M.A. Elektrohіmіchna
dezaktivacіya poverhon’. Hіmіya, fіzyka ta
tekhnologіya poverhnі. 2015. 6(1):122–134.
(in Ukrainian).
3. Omel’chuk A. A., Yang Li Qiang, Yudenko-
va I. N., Maslo N. A., Huang Jian Wen. Elect
rochemical decontamination. Proceedings
of the 3rd International Multi-Conference on
Engineering and Technological Innovation:
IMETI 2010 (June 29th – July 2nd, 2010 –
Orlando, Florida, USA). 2010. 1: 281–286.
(in English).
4. Zarubic’kii O.G., Omel’chuk A.O., Bud-
nik V.G., Yudenkova І.M., Kozіn V.H. Elekt
rod dlya elektrohіmіchnoi dezaktivacii ta
obrobki metalіchnih poverhon’. Patent: Ukr.
60694 А. С25F 7/00, С25F 3/00. 15.10.2003.
Стаття надійшла 20.05.2021.
|
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| spelling | oai:ojs2.1444248.nisspano.web.hosting-test.net:article-2952026-07-22T08:23:46Z HOW TO ISOLATE RADIONUCLIDES? ON THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PURIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT FROM RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION — DEVELOPMENT BY CHEMISTS OF THE ACADEMY ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ Omelchuk, Anatoliy radionuclide contamination, nuclear power, electrochemical removal, surface, technological equipment. Scientists of the V.I. Vernadskii Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine developed a method of electrochemical removal of radionuclide contamination from the surfaces of the technological equipment of nuclear power plants. The method was successfully tested at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and on the Research Nuclear Reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Based on the results of the tests, a device for the electrochemical decontamination of metal surfaces of equipment in non-stationary conditions was created and design and technological documentation for its serial production was developed. V.I.Vernadsky Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry 2021-05-17 Article Article Physical chemistry Физическая xимия Фізична xімія application/pdf https://ucj.org.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/295 10.33609/2708-129X.87.04.2021.111-116 Ukrainian Chemistry Journal; Vol. 87 No. 4 (2021): Ukrainian Chemistry Journal; 111-116 Украинский химический журнал; ##issue.vol## 87 ##issue.no## 4 (2021): Ukrainian Chemistry Journal; 111-116 Український хімічний журнал; Том 87 № 4 (2021): Український хімічний журнал; 111-116 2708-129X 2708-1281 en https://ucj.org.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/295/163 Copyright (c) 2021 Anatoliy Omelchuk https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Omelchuk, Anatoliy ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ |
| title | ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ |
| title_alt | HOW TO ISOLATE RADIONUCLIDES? ON THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PURIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT FROM RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION — DEVELOPMENT BY CHEMISTS OF THE ACADEMY |
| title_full | ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ |
| title_fullStr | ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ |
| title_full_unstemmed | ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ |
| title_short | ЯК ІЗОЛЮВАТИ РАДІОНУКЛІДИ? ПРО ЕЛЕКТРОХІМІЧНЕ ОЧИЩЕННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОГО ОБЛАДНАННЯ ВІД РАДІОНУКЛІДНОГО ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ — РОЗРОБКУ ХІМІКІВ АКАДЕМІЇ |
| title_sort | як ізолювати радіонукліди? про електрохімічне очищення технологічного обладнання від радіонуклідного забруднення — розробку хіміків академії |
| topic_facet | radionuclide contamination nuclear power electrochemical removal surface technological equipment. |
| url | https://ucj.org.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/295 |
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