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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter (O) November 7, 2014

Studies on the feasibility of using completely incinerable reagents for the single-cycle separation of americium(III) from simulated high-level liquid waste

  • P. K. Nayak , R. Kumaresan , Shivkumar Chaurasia , K. A. Venkatesan EMAIL logo , G. G. S. Subramanian , T. Prathibha , K. V. Syamala , B. Robert Selvan , S. Rajeswari , M. P. Antony , P. R. Vasudeva Rao and B. M. Bhanage
From the journal Radiochimica Acta

Abstract

The extraction and stripping behavior of various metal ions present in the fast reactor simulated high-level liquid waste (FR-SHLLW) was studied using a solvent phase composed of a neutral extractant, N,N,-didodecyl-N′,N′-dioctyl-3-oxapentane-1,5-diamide (D3DODGA) and an acidic extractant, di-2-ethylhexyl diglycolamic acid (HDEHDGA) in n-dodecane (n-DD). The third phase formation behavior of the solvent formulation D3DODGA + HDEHDGA/n-DD, was studied when it was contacted with FR-SHLLW, and the concentration of neutral and acidic extractant needed to avoid the third phase formation was optimized. The distribution ratio of various metal ions present in FR-SHLLW was measured in a solution of 0.1 M D3DODGA + 0.2 M HDEHDGA/n-DD. The extraction of Am(III) was accompanied by the co-extraction of lanthanides and unwanted metal ions such as Zr(IV), Y(III), and Pd(II). A procedure was developed to minimize the extraction of unwanted metal ions by using aqueous soluble complexing agents in FR-SHLLW. Based on those results, the counter-current mixer-settler run was performed in a 20-stage mixer-settler. Quantitative extraction of Am(III), Ln(III), Y(III), and Sr(II) in 0.1 M D3DODGA + 0.2 M HDEHDGA/n-DD was observed. The recovery of Am(III) from the loaded organic phase was carried out by the optimized aqueous formulation composed of 0.01 M diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) + 0.5 M citric acid (CA) at pH 1.5. The stripping of Am(III) was accompanied by co-stripping of some early lanthanides. However the later lanthanides (Eu(III) and beyond) were not back extracted to Am(III) product. Therefore, the studies foresee the possibility of intra-lanthanides as well as lanthanide-actinide separation in a single-processing cycle.

Received: 2014-5-12
Accepted: 2014-8-13
Published Online: 2014-11-7
Published in Print: 2015-4-28

©2014 Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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