A Novel Methodology for Processing of Plutonium-Bearing Waste as Ammonium Plutonium(III)-Oxalate
- Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (India)
A novel methodology has been developed for the recovery of Pu from different types of waste solutions generated during various operations involved in the chemical quality control/assurance of nuclear fuels. The method is based on the precipitation of Pu as ammonium plutonium(III)-oxalate and involves the adjustment of acidity of the Pu solution to 1 N, the addition of ascorbic acid (0.05 M) to reduce Pu to Pu(III), followed by the addition of (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}SO{sub 4} (0.5 M) and a stoichiometric amount of saturated oxalic acid maintaining a 0.2 M excess of oxalic acid concentration in the supernatant. The precipitate was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and thermal and chemical analysis and was found to have the composition NH{sub 4}Pu(C{sub 2}O{sub 4}){sub 2}.3H{sub 2}O. This compound can be easily decomposed to PuO{sub 2} on heating in air at 823 K. Decontamination factors of U, Fe, and Cr determined showed quantitative removal of these ions during the precipitation of Pu as ammonium plutonium(III)-oxalate.A semiautomatic assembly based on the transfer of solutions by suction arrangement was designed and fabricated for processing large volumes of Pu solution. This assembly reduced the corrosion of the glove-box material and offered the advantage of lower radiation exposure to the working personnel.
- OSTI ID:
- 20840302
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 151, Issue 3; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2006 American Nuclear Society (ANS), United States, All rights reserved. http://epubs.ans.org/; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0029-5450
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AMMONIUM SULFATES
ASCORBIC ACID
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CORROSION
DECONTAMINATION
GLOVEBOXES
LIQUID WASTES
NUCLEAR FUELS
OXALATES
OXALIC ACID
PH VALUE
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM OXIDES
PRECIPITATION
QUALITY CONTROL
SOLUTIONS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION