PARTITIONING STUDIES TO SEPARATE ACTINIDES FROM ICPP HLWa

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Studies at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) are in progress to evaluate the latest generation of bidentate organophosphorus actinide extractants. The Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) dissolves defense nuclear fuel in a mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acids to recover unspent uranium. Therefore, the waste stream is both acidic and has a high concentration of Zr and Al complexed fluoride. The focus is on octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoyl -methylphosphine oxide (CMPO) as it may exhibit large actinide separation factors compared to bulk waste constituents such as Zr and Al. This paper describes the traced batch extractions that have been completed using CMPO and synthetic high-level waste.