TRUEX processing of plutonium analytical solutions at Argonne National Laboratory
- Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Chemical Technology Div.
The TRUEX (TRansUranic EXtraction) solvent extraction process was developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) for the Department of Energy. A TRUEX demonstration completed at ANL involved the processing of analytical and experimental waste generated there and at the New Brunswick Laboratory. A 20-stage centrifugal contactor was used to recover plutonium, americium, and uranium from the waste. Approximately 84 g of plutonium, 18 g of uranium, and 0.2 g of americium were recovered from about 118 liters of solution during four process runs. Alpha decontamination factors as high as 65,000 were attained, which was especially important because it allowed the disposal of the process raffinate as a low-level waste. The recovered plutonium and uranium were converted to oxide; the recovered americium solution was concentrated by evaporation to approximately 100 ml. The flowsheet and operational procedures were modified to overcome process difficulties. These difficulties included the presence of complexants in the feed, solvent degradation, plutonium precipitation, and inadequate decontamination factors during startup. This paper will discuss details of the experimental effort.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 219306
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/CMT/CP-86178; CONF-951057-11; ON: DE96008450; TRN: 96:010697
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 9. symposium on separation science and technology for energy applications, Gatlinburg, TN (United States), 22-26 Oct 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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