Proposed Cesium-free Mineralization Method for Soil Decontamination: Demonstration of Cesium Removal from Weathered Biotite

[Image: see text] The removal possibility of sorbed Cs from weathered biotite (WB), which is considered a major Cs adsorbent in the soil of Fukushima, has been investigated by the addition of an NaCl–CaCl(2) mixed salt powder with a 1:1 ratio of Na and Ca and subsequent heat treatment under a reduced pressure of 14 Pa. X-ray fluorescence analysis was used to determine the Cs removal rate at elevated temperatures. The structural changes and new phases formed were determined using powder X-ray diffraction as well as electron diffraction and X-ray microanalysis in a transmission electron microscope. We found that Cs was completely removed from the specimen heated at 700 °C, where WB completely decomposed and augite was formed. On the basis of this finding, we propose the Cs-free mineralization method as a new soil-decontamination process in which Cs minerals are transformed by heating with certain additives into minerals that cannot incorporate Cs.