Plutonium and americium extraction studies with bifunctional organophosphorus extractants

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5864295

Navratil, J D

Neutral bifunctional organophosphorus extractants, such as octylphenyl-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) and dihexyl-N,N-diethylcarbamoylmethylphosphonate (CMP), are under study at the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP) to remove plutonium and americium from the 7M nitric acid waste. These compounds extract trivalent actinides from strong nitric acid, a property which distinguishes them from monofunctional organiphosphorus reagents. Furthermore, the reagents extract hydroytic plutonium (IV) polymer which is present in the acid waste stream. The compounds extract trivalent actinides with a 3:1 stoichiometry, whereas tetra- and hexavalent actinides extract with a stoichiometry of 2:1. Preliminary studies indicate that the extracted plutonium polymer complex contains one to two molecules of CMP per plutonium ion and the plutonium(IV) maintains a polymeric structure. Recent studies by Horwitz and co-workers conclude that the CMPO and CMP reagents behave as monodentate ligands. At RFP, three techniques are being tested for using CMP and CMPO to remove plutonium and americium from nitric acid waste streams. The different techniques are liquid-liquid extraction, extraction chromatography, and solid-supported liquid membranes. Recent tests of the last two techniques will be briefly described. In all the experiments, CMP was an 84% pure material from Bray Oil Co. and CMPO was 98% pure from M and T Chemicals.

• Research Organization: Rockwell International Corp., Golden, CO (USA). Rocky Flats Plant
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP03533
• OSTI ID: 5864295
• Report Number(s): RFP-3977; ON: DE86010804
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDES
AMERICIUM
CHROMATOGRAPHY
ELEMENTS
EXTRACTION
EXTRACTION CHROMATOGRAPHY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
MANAGEMENT
MEMBRANES
METALS
NITRIC ACID
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING