Impact of uranium carbide organics treated by prolonged boiling and electrochemical oxidation upon uranium and plutonium solvent extraction
-
Chris J. Maher
,
Christine Bouyer
Abstract
The dissolution of uranium or uranium-plutonium carbide fuel in nitric acid leads to ~50% carbon evolved as carbon dioxide, the remainder remains in the solution as soluble organics. These dissolved organic molecules interfere with the solvent extraction of uranium and plutonium by complexing to the actinide ions and decreasing the efficiency of their extraction. Experiments reported here describe two series of experiments assessing the uranium carbide dissolution liquor treatment by prolonged boiling and electrochemical oxidation. Plutonium losses to aqueous and solvent raffinates are observed for untreated liquors, highlighting that mineralisation of dissolved organics is necessary to reduce the complexing effects of organic acids to an extent that permit efficient operation of a solvent extraction process both in the first solvent use (considered here) and for maintaining solvent quality during industrial solvent reuse in the highly active cycle. Solution carbon analysis and 30% TBP solvent extraction batch tests of uranium and plutonium originating from dissolved uranium carbide liquors untreated and after treatment are compared. These experiments demonstrate the reprocessing of uranium carbides by direct dissolution coupled to a mineralisation process, can achieve near quantitative uranium and high plutonium recoveries (99.9%).
Acknowledgments:
The authors would like to acknowledge financial support for this work, which was made possible by the ASGARD project (EC FPVII Euratom contract N° 2012-295825), CEA, NNL and UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
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Supplemental Material:
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2017-2799).
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Measurements of excitation functions of α-particle induced reactions on natNi: possibility of production of the medical isotopes 61Cu and 67Cu
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- Plutonium leaching from polycrystalline and monocrystalline PuO2
- Adsorption of volatile polonium species on metals in various gas atmospheres: Part III – Adsorption of volatile polonium on stainless steel 316L
- Separation of radioisotopes of terbium from a europium target irradiated by 27 MeV α-particles
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Measurements of excitation functions of α-particle induced reactions on natNi: possibility of production of the medical isotopes 61Cu and 67Cu
- Impact of uranium carbide organics treated by prolonged boiling and electrochemical oxidation upon uranium and plutonium solvent extraction
- Effect of pKa on the extraction behavior of Am(III) in organo phosphorus acid and diglycolamide solvent system
- Plutonium leaching from polycrystalline and monocrystalline PuO2
- Adsorption of volatile polonium species on metals in various gas atmospheres: Part III – Adsorption of volatile polonium on stainless steel 316L
- Separation of radioisotopes of terbium from a europium target irradiated by 27 MeV α-particles
- Determination of selenium in roasted beans coffee samples consumed in Algeria by radiochemical neutron activation analysis method
- Effect of seawater intrusion on radioactive strontium (90Sr) sorption and transport at nuclear power plants
- Study of the radioactivity in environmental soil samples from Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey
