Plant scale demonstration of promethium recovery and purification processes

Conference · Fri Sep 17 04:00:00 EDT 1965

OSTI ID:5880438

Ritter, G L; Buckingham, J S

A slurry from an underground radioactive waste storage tank containing about 0.003 weight percent promethium-147 (total cation basis) was processed for recovery of the promethium. The promethium obtained was semi-purified by solvent extraction techniques to yield 75,000 curies. Approximately 45,000 curies of promethium at 98 weight percent purity was obtained from a chromatographic ion exchange final purification process. Process technology demonstrated during this effort included: (a) a solvent extraction flowsheet for the successful separation of promethium and other rare earths from principally iron, lead, and strontium contaminants; (b) a solvent extraction flowsheet for the removal of cerium, including the extremely radioactive cerium-144 and its decay daughter praseodymium-144, from the other rare earths; and (c) a chromatographic ion exchange system capable of handling kilocurie quantities of promethium. Results of the test program have been helpful in defining areas for additional laboratory investigations and in designing flowsheets and equipment for the large-scale recovery and purification of promethium at Hanford.

• Research Organization: General Electric Co., Richland, WA (USA). Hanford Atomic Products Operation
• DOE Contract Number: AT(45-1)-1350
• OSTI ID: 5880438
• Report Number(s): RL-SA-53; CONF-651010-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400105* -- Separation Procedures
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CERIUM
CERIUM 144
CERIUM ISOTOPES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
DIAGRAMS
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXTRACTION
FLOWSHEETS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ION EXCHANGE
IRON
ISOTOPES
LEAD
MANAGEMENT
METALS
MIXTURES
NUCLEI
PILOT PLANTS
PROMETHIUM
PURIFICATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
RARE EARTHS
RECOVERY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SLURRIES
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
STORAGE
STRONTIUM
SUSPENSIONS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
UNDERGROUND STORAGE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE