Recovery, concentration, and solidification of europium by ion exchange from a dilute process stream

Technical Report · Tue Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5698340· OSTI ID:5698340

Campbell, D. O.

A promising process to recover americium from a very dilute waste solution and convert it to a stable solid suitable for waste disposal is to load the americium onto organic ion-exchange resins and burn the resins to yield a granular solid that can be disposed of directly or formed into a monolith using known solidification processes. Experiments were carried out in which europium, a stand-in for americium, was loaded onto small ion exchange resin columns from dilute aqueous solutions containing nitric acid and, in some cases, iron. The effluent solution was decontaminated sufficiently to be a non-TRU waste in the plant application. The volumetric distribution coefficient under anticipated conditions was in the range of 18,000, indicating that a relatively very small volume of solid, americium-loaded, ion-exchange resin would be produced. Burning the loaded resin in air yields a stable, solid oxysulfate with a further volume reduction of about a factor of six. Iron, and possibly other impurities, can interfere with the americium recovery. 8 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5698340
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-10638; ON: DE88004771
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
053000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
AMERICIUM
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
ELEMENTS
EUROPIUM
HANFORD RESERVATION
ION EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY
IRON COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MATERIALS RECOVERY
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POLYMERS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RARE EARTHS
RECOVERY
RESINS
RESPONSE MODIFYING FACTORS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLIDIFICATION
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES