Distribution of fission products in the homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction of uranium

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:6795463

Xu, J

Separation of uranium from fission products by homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction of uranium from one molar nitric acid solution with addition of ferric nitrate as salting-out reagent, into propylene carbonate has been performed. Uranium(VI) was quantitatively extracted into propylene carbonate from an aqueous medium of 0.5 g/l Fe(NO{sub 3}){sub 3} 9H{sub 2}O and 1 M HNO{sub 3} at 99 C, then quantitatively stripped from the organic phase with 0.1 M sodium carbonate at pH 9. Final separation of uranium(VI) was obtained by extracting uranium(VI) into 0.1 M dibenzoyl methane in propylene carbonate using the homogeneous technique at pH 7. Precipitation of ferric hydroxide affords efficient decontamination from significant fission products. The representative fission product elements, molybdenum, strontium, ruthenium, zirconium, and cerium, remained in the aqueous solution after after extracting uranium(VI) into propylene carbonate to an extent grater than 97%; i.e., less than three percent of the respective elements were found in the carbonate stripping solution. After the final separation step, the extraction of uranyl ion into propylene carbonate containing dibenzoly methane, these fission product elements were not longer detectable. Ten percent of the original concentration of iodide was found in the carbonate stripping solution. However, it was removed in the final separation step. This uranium extraction method can be applied as a practical method for separating uranium from fission products to recover the uranium from spent fuel elements. The capacity of ferric hydroxide for adsorption of fission products and the ability to convert to the somewhat refractory ferric oxide also promises convenience for long term storage.

• Research Organization: City Univ. of New York, NY (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6795463
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050800* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACTINIDES
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ALKENES
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CERIUM
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXTRACTION
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUELS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
INORGANIC ACIDS
IODIDES
IODINE COMPOUNDS
IRON COMPOUNDS
IRON HYDROXIDES
IRON NITRATES
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
MIXTURES
MOLYBDENUM
NITRATES
NITRIC ACID
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NUCLEAR FUELS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PH VALUE
PLATINUM METALS
PRECIPITATION
PROPYLENE
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RARE EARTHS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REMOVAL
REPROCESSING
RUTHENIUM
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLUTIONS
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SOLVENTS
SPENT FUELS
STORAGE
STRONTIUM
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
URANIUM
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
ZIRCONIUM