Impacts of Lanthanide Ion Complexation on the Radiation Robustness of Diglycolamide Extractants

Conference · Thu Nov 16 00:00:00 UTC 2023

OSTI ID:2279198

Bronstetter, Michaela Renee ^[1]; Holmbeck, Gregory Peter ^[1]; Gaiser, Alyssa ^[2]

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1. Idaho National Laboratory
2. Michigan State University (INL Collaborator)

Nuclear power reactors represent a clean and reliable source of baseload energy. However, nuclear reactors produce used nuclear fuel (UNF), which, if not recycled/reprocessed, must be disposed of as high-level radioactive waste, necessitating long-term storage options. UNF contains approximately a third of the periodic table, including the radioactive minor actinides (MA) americium and curium. Removal of these MA from UNF would greatly reduce the radiotoxic burden, volume, and cost of a storage facility or geological repository. Thus, a significant global effort has been devoted to the design of reprocessing strategies for the clean separation of the MA from UNF. As MA separations are difficult, due to the presence of lanthanide elements in UNF and their remarkably similar chemical properties, many extractants have been studied. The diglycolamide (DGA) class of extractants are promising for this separation as they exhibit high distribution coefficients for the MAs, high metal loading capacities, and are robust in highly acidic radiation environments.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: 58
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 2279198
• Report Number(s): INL/CON-23-75268-Rev000
• Conference Information: Nuclear Fuel Cycle: A Chemistry Conference (NFC3), Online (virtual), 11/15/2023 - 11/16/2023
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
Diglycolamides
Lanthanides
Metal Loading
Radiation