Application of extraction chromatography to actinide decontamination of hydrochloric acid effluent streams
Extraction chromatography is under development as a method to lower actinide activity levels in effluent steams. Successful application of this technique for radioactive liquid waste treatment would provide a low activity feed stream for HCl recycle, reduce the loss of radioactivity to the environment in aqueous effluents, and would lower the quantity and reduce the hazard of the associated solid waste. The extraction of Pu and Am from HCl solutions was examined for several commercial and laboratory-produced sorbed resin materials. Inert supports included silica and polymer beads of differing mesh sizes. The support material was coated with either n-octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (O-CMPO) or di-(4-t-butylphenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (D-CMPO) as an extractant, and using either tributyl phosphate (TBP) or diamyl amylphosphonate (DAAP) as a diluent. Solutions tested were effluent streams generated by ion exchange and solvent extraction recovery of Pu. A finer mesh silica support material demonstrated advantages in removal of trivalent Am in some tests, but also showed a tendency toward plugging and channeling as column sizes and flow rates were increased. Larger bead sizes showed better physical properties as the process was scaled up to removal of gram quantities of Am from large effluent volumes. The ratio of extractant to diluent also appeared to play a role in the retention of Am. In direct comparative studies, when loaded on identical supports and diluent conditions, D-CMPO demonstrated better Am retention than O-CMPO from HCl process effluents.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 238463
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-96-1227; CONF-9606116-11; ON: DE96009213; TRN: 96:015049
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Reno, NV (United States), 16-20 Jun 1996; Other Information: PBD: [1996]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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