Alternative methods for degradation studies by alpha radiolysis: tributyl phosphate and CMPO
- University of California, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, 916 Engineering Tower, Irvine, CA 92697-2575 (United States)
- University of California, Department of Chemistry, 1102 Natural Sciences 2, Irvine, CA 92697-2025 (United States)
Solvent extraction separation processes used in the recycling of used nuclear fuel are susceptible to radiolytic damage from radioactive isotopes present in used fuel. Studying the respective effects on matter of both low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation such as gamma radiation and high LET such as alpha radiation will allow for accurate prediction and modeling of process performance losses with respect to dose. The effects of gamma radiation on solvent extraction ligands have been more extensively studied than the effects of alpha radiation due to the inherent difficulty in producing a sufficient and confluent dose of alpha particles within a sample without leaving the sample contaminated with long lived radioactive isotopes. We have developed a method for studying the effects of high LET radiation in situ via {sup 10}B activation and the high LET particles that result from the {sup 10}B(n,a){sup 7}Li reaction which follows. In this study we applied this method to organic solutions of tributyl phosphate (TBP) and CMPO (compound octylphenyl-N, N-diisobutyl-carbamoyl methyl phosphine oxide) representing the PUREX and TRUEX processes respectively. Rates of degradation of TBP and CMPO and their respective degradation products in the presence of both high and low LET radiation are presented and compared to values reported in the literature. Preliminary data appears to show decreased degradation of CMPO in the presence of an aqueous acidic phase, which agrees with other studies performed on TBP solutions. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22257913
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads, Salt Lake City, UT (United States), 29 Sep - 3 Oct 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 17 refs.; Related Information: In: Proceedings of GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads| 1633 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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