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U.S. Department of Energy
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EXTRACTION OF PLUTONIUM BY HEXONE FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS CONTAINING NITRIC ACID

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4053186

A general study has been made of the chemistry of plutonium-hexone systems containing nitric acid. The greater part of the work consisted of investigating the extent to which hexone extracted plutonium from aqueous solutions. A study of aqueous Pu(III) solutions in contact with hexone showed that the small amount of plutonium appearing in the hexone phase was in the 4-valent state. The partition co-efficients for Pu(IV) and Pu(VI) have been determined under a variety of conditions in aqueous-hexone systems containing no salting-out agent, and containing the salts ammonium, zinc, aluminum and uranyl nitrate. A necessary preliminary to these studies was the preparation of plutonium in pure valence states, and the determination of the absorption spectra of these states in aqueous and hexone solutions of different acidities. The decomposition of hexone under the chemical influence of dissolved plutonium was observed and has been investigated in a qualitative manner. (auth)

Research Organization:
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River, Ontario (Canada)
NSA Number:
NSA-18-025604
OSTI ID:
4053186
Report Number(s):
CRC-487; AECL-1787
Country of Publication:
Canada
Language:
English