NEPTUNIUM RECOVERY AND PURIFICATION AT HANFORD

Technical Report · Tue Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 1963

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4080927· OSTI ID:4080927

Isaacson, R. E.; Judson, B. F.

From American Chemical Society Production Technology of Np-237 and Pu- 238, Denver, Jan. 1964. Neptunium is routinely recovered from irradiated fuel elements at Hanford's two main separation plants. Initial development tests were started in the Purex plant in 1958, then in the Redox plant in 1959, and recently culminated in the installation of new production systems in both plants for improved recoveries. Both recovery flowsheets employ solvent extraction techniques based on the relative extractability of neptunium-VI. The neptunium is co-extracted with uranium and plutonium in the plants' first extraction cycles and then partitioned and decontaminated in separate neptanium cycles. Excellent decontamination from fission products is achieved without interfering with mamline uranium and plutonium production. Recovered neptunium is purified by anion exchange and shipped offsite for subsequent irradiation to plutonaim-238. Overall separation factors of uranium and fission products from neptunium are greater than 10/sup 7/ and 10/sup 10/ respectively. (auth)

• Research Organization: General Electric Co. Hanford Atomic Products Operation, Richland, Wash.
• DOE Contract Number: AT(45-1)-1350
• NSA Number: NSA-18-013913
• OSTI ID: 4080927
• Report Number(s): HW-SA-3283; CONF-322-3
• Resource Relation: Other Information: CONF-322-3; From American Chemical Society Production Technology of Np-237 and Pu-238, Denver, Jan. 1964. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-64
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CHEMISTRY
ANIONS
DECONTAMINATION
DIAGRAMS
EFFICIENCY
FABRICATION
FISSION PRODUCTS
FLUID FLOW
FUEL ELEMENTS
ION EXCHANGE
IRRADIATION
MIXING
NEPTUNIUM
NEPTUNIUM COMPOUNDS
OPERATION
OXIDATION
PERFORMANCE
PLANNING
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM COMPOUNDS
PRODUCTION
PUREX PROCESS
RADIOCHEMISTRY
RECOVERY
REDOX PROCESS
REDUCTION
REFINING
REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
URANIUM
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems