LABORATORY DEVELOPMENT OF THE ACID THOREX PROCESS FOR RECOVERY OF THORIUM REACTOR FUEL
The Acid Thorex process is developed on a laboratory scale for recovery of uranium and thorium from spent fuel solutions. The thorium and uranium are extracted by tributyl phosphate (TBP) with only the thorium nitrate and nitric acid as "salting agents.'' As compared to the Thorex process in which aluminum nitrate is employed as a salting agent, a considerable reduction in aqueous waste volumes is possible. With a synthetic solution of Consolidated Edison Thorium Reactor fuel as feed, uranium and thorium are separated from ruthenium, zirconium --niobium, protactinium, and rare earth elements by factors of 2000. 30,000' 1000, and 10/sup 5/, respectively. The concentrated aqueous waste volume is 0.2 liter per kilogram of thorium processed. These values compare favorably with corresponding separation factor values for the aluminum-salted Thorex system of 600, 3000, 3000. and 2 x 10/sup 5/ and a corresponding volume of 2 liters per kilogram of thorium processed. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-027705
- OSTI ID:
- 4843646
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Sci. and Eng., Journal Name: Nuclear Sci. and Eng. Vol. Vol: 10
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- English
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