Interference of Zr(IV) during the extraction of trivalent Nd(III) from the aqueous waste generated from metallic fuel reprocessing
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T. Prathibha
Abstract
A metallic alloy of uranium–zirconium and uranium–plutonium–zirconium has been proposed as a fuel for fast reactors, owing to the possibility of achieving high breeding ratio in a short span of time. About 6–10 wt.% of zirconium has been added to these actinide fuels to increase the melting temperature and thermal-mechanical stability. Aqueous reprocessing of the spent metallic fuel generates the high-level liquid waste (HLLW) that contains about 60 % of the total zirconium from the fuel. In view of this, the extraction behavior of a trivalent representative ion, Nd(III) in the presence of Zr(IV) was studied from nitric acid medium using the candidate ligands proposed for trivalent actinide separation from HLLW, such as N,N,N′N′-tetraoctyldiglycolamide (TODGA), and N,N-di-octyl-2-hydroxyacetamide (DOHyA). The extraction was studied as a function of nitric acid concentration, zirconium and neodymium concentration and Nd(III) to Zr(IV) ratio. The findings of dynamic light scattering (DLS) and ATR-FTIR spectral techniques were used for understanding the complex chemistry of Zr(IV) extraction under different conditions. Poor extraction of nitric acid, smaller aggregate size, no third phase formation during the extraction of Zr(IV) and Nd(III) and other unique solvent properties favor the DOHyA molecule in n-dodecane as a solvent for partitioning of trivalent actinides from HLLW generated from metallic fuel reprocessing.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support from Dr. S Ponraju and Mrs. V Snehalatha, Health and Safety Laboratory, IGCAR during ATR-FTIR measurements and Dr. S Vijayalakshmi, Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy division, IGCAR for ICP-OES analysis.
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2019-3220).
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Original papers
- Integral measurement of spectrum-averaged cross sections of a few threshold reactions induced by fast neutrons of a TRIGA reactor: comparison with integrated data from excitation functions given in various data libraries
- Quantum chemical studies of selective back-extraction of Am(III) from Eu(III) and Cm(III) with two hydrophilic 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-bis-triazolyl ligands
- Luminescence of uranium(VI) after liquid-liquid extraction from HCl by Aliquat® 336 in n-dodecane:1-decanol by time-resolved laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy
- Volume oxidation of uranium mononitride and uranium monocarbide in the dry NOX-gaseous atmosphere
- Interference of Zr(IV) during the extraction of trivalent Nd(III) from the aqueous waste generated from metallic fuel reprocessing
- Mild and efficient 64Cu labeling of perhydro-1, 4-diazepine derivatives for potential use with large peptides, proteins and antibodies
- 68Ga CdTe/CdS fluorescent quantum dots for detection of tumors: investigation on the effect of nanoparticle size on stability and in vivo pharmacokinetics
- Natural radioactivity, radon emanating power and mass exhalation rate of environmental soil samples from Karabük province, Turkey
- Enhancing the physico-mechanical properties of irradiated rubber/waste plastic blend via incorporation of different fillers for industrial applications
- Corrigendum
- Corrigendum to: Effect of humic acid, fulvic acid, pH, ionic strength and temperature on 63Ni(II) sorption to MnO2
