Recovery of Uranium, Plutonium, and Neptunium from High-Level Waste Solutions prior to Actinide Partitioning
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 16, Issue 4
Abstract
The prior removal of uranium along with plutonium and neptunium from high-level waste (HLW) can simplify the subsequent actinide partitioning steps. In this context, extraction and stripping behavior of uranium, plutonium, and neptunium was investigated employing 1.1-M solutions of tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) and N,N-dihexyl octanamide (DHOA) dissolved in n-dodecane as extractants in the presence of U relevant to pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) high-level waste (HLW) conditions. Reductants such as acetohydroxamic acid (AHA) and hydroxyurea (HU) were evaluated for selective stripping of plutonium and neptunium over uranium from the loaded organic phases. These studies indicated the possibility of quantitative recovery of U(VI), Pu(IV), and Np(IV) from HLW solution employing either DHOA or TBP as extractant. Integration of this step in the minor actinide partitioning simplifies the treatment of HLW with the specially designed extractants like octyl(phenyl)- , -diisobutyl carbamoyl methyl phosphine oxide (CMPO), , , , -tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA), and , , , -tetra(2-ethylhexyl) diglycolamide (TEHDGA).
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Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 16 • Issue 4 • October 2012
Pages: 327 - 333
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 13, 2011
Accepted: Jan 13, 2012
Published online: Jan 16, 2012
Published in print: Oct 1, 2012
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