The facilitated transport mechanism of cerium(III) ions through polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) consisting of cellulose triacetate (CTA) as a polymer matrix, 2-nitrophenyl n-octyl ether (NPOE) as a solvent and N,NAP,AP-tetraoctyl-3-oxapentanediamide (TODGA) as a carrier was studied. In order to evaluate the mass transport phenomena in the PIM, a mathematical model was derived from the Fick's first law and the equations for the extraction and the material balance. Methods to determine the values of the transport parameters such as the diffusion coefficient are described, and the dependency of the flux on the experimental condition was calculated. The model is very useful as a design tool to analyze and optimize the concentration process of low level radioactive wastewater using the PIM. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.