II. Cesium leaching in CsA and CsX zeolites: use of blocking agents to inhibit the cesium cation mobility.

Cesium-exchanged A and X zeolites were loaded with cesium acetate species and thermally treated in order to inhibit the mobility of exchangeable cesium cations. The proposed procedure seems to block the cavities channels avoiding the releasing of cesium cations under the leaching conditions. The cesium impregnated species did not induce strong structural modifications if they are used in small amounts (0.2 meq/g zeolite), but they promote transformation toward cesium orthosilicate if they are loaded in amounts as high as 2 meq/g zeolite. This orthosilicate retains safely the cesium as it is a component of the lattice.