Life-Cycle Assessment of Radioactive Cation Exchange Resin Treatment: Pioneering Green Engineering with Molten Salt Oxidation and Sustainable Carbonate Recycling

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Nuclear power plants use cation exchange resins (CER) to remove radionuclides, but efficient CER waste treatment is critical. Pyrolysis (PY) and molten salt oxidation (MSO) offer high decomposition efficiency and volume reduction but involve uncertain environmental trade-offs. This study presents a pioneering life cycle assessment (LCA) directly comparing the environmental impacts of MSO and PY in treating waste CER and crucially introduces MSO with carbonate recycling (MSO-RC) to mitigate extensive virgin carbonate use. The LCA indicates that MSO emits fewer greenhouse gases and particulate matter and reduces soil acidification compared to PY. However, extensive virgin carbonate use in MSO heightens water consumption and mineral resource scarcity. MSO-RC mitigates these effects by regenerating salts and lowering global warming potential, land use, water demand, and mineral depletion. The optimized MSO-RC achieves over 99% CER decomposition efficiency under industrial conditions while enabling safe salt reuse. This research provides critical impact assessments, offering a robust basis and reference indicators for nuclear waste treatment departments in selecting CER treatment methods and outlining directions for further optimizing MSO processes.