Removal of actinides from ICPP fuel reprocessing wastes engineering studies terminal report
- 1 September 1980
- report
- Published by Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)
Abstract
The engineering development work for a process to remove actinides from ICPP nuclear fuel reprocessing wastes is described. These wastes contain small amounts of actinides, primarily plutonium and americium. Removal of these actinides is one option being evaluated as a long-term disposal alternative. A solvent extraction process has been developed which successfully separates these actinides. Four major areas of development were examined in detail, namely the process chemistry, simulated column studies, miniature mixer-settler experiments, and pilot plant tests. Actual radioactive wastes containing actinides were used in several of these tests, though an actinide simulant (cerium) was used in the pilot plant experiments. Therefore, the relationship between actinide extraction and cerium extraction was also examined. As a result of these studies, a process was developed that will extract actinides from ICPP wastes using pulsed, sieve plate extraction columns. The resulting actinide free waste (after solidification) will be below ten nanocuries of actinides per gram, a Federal limit for transuranic waste. In addition, the Height of a Transfer Unit (HTU) was selected as being the better measure of pulse column separation efficiency than the Height Equivalent to a Theoretical Stage (HETS). Determination of column flooding, solvent cleanup and recycle considerations, and HTU/HETSmore » calculations are also discussed.« lessKeywords
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