Neptunium, with its rich redox chemistry, has a special position in the chemistry of actinides. With a decades-long history of development of aqueous separation methods for used nuclear fuel (UNF), management of neptunium remains an unresolved issue because of its not clearly defined redox speciation. Neptunium is present in two,...
Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) resultant from the generation of nuclear power is a chemically and radiologically diverse system which is advantageous to chemically process prior to geologic disposal. Hydrometallurgy is the primary technology for chemical processing for light water reactor spent fuels, where spent fuel is dissolved in an acid...
Carboxylic acids have played an important role in the field of actinide (An) and lanthanide (Ln) separations and the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel. Recent bench-scale experiments have demonstrated that 3-carboxy-3-hydroxypentanedioic acid (citric acid) is a promising aqueous complexant that can effectively aid in the separation of transition metals from...
Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF) contains transuranic (TRU) elements and numerous fission products as a result of the uranium fission process and neutron activation that occur in commercial light water power reactors. Recent environmental and nuclear proliferation concerns have spawned the development of advanced reprocessing techniques to close the nuclear fuel...
Partitioning of trivalent actinides (in particular, americium and curium) from the
fission produced light lanthanides is a major concern of used nuclear fuel reprocessing for
the purposes of waste disposal. Several solvent extraction processes have been developed
to address these chemically difficult separations. The historically employed TALSPEAK
Process utilizes di-2-ethylhexyl...
An alternative extractant for the TRUEX/UNEX process was investigated in solid phase extraction chromatography. The para and ortho isomers of diamides derivatives of dipicolinic acid (N,N'-diethyl-N,N'-ditolyl-dipicolinamide, EtTDPA) have been found in the past to effectively separate actinides from lanthanides in solvent extraction and were successfully impregnated on two uncoated, inert...
In this work, three isomeric forms of N, N'-diethyl, N, N'-ditolyldipicolinamide (EtTDPA) were synthesized. The elements thorium through americium, which make up a significant portion of the actinides in used nuclear fuel (with the exception of curium), and two fission products, molybdenum and technetium, were tested for their ability to...
Effective separation of lanthanides (Ln) from the minor actinides (MA) is a crucial technical challenge to closing the nuclear fuel cycle. This separation is a necessary prerequisite to transmute long-lived isotopes of Am and Cm, which will allow a reduction of the repository volume, thermal load, and radiological toxicity of...
Nowadays selective separation processes are sought after more than ever before. They are indispensable to meet the growing demand for individual rare earth elements, minor actinides partitioned from fission-produced lanthanides, as well as, overall, more concentrated and high-purity products. This research focuses on such separation techniques as solvent extraction which...
Industrial reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF) is one of the most complex procedures performed on a large scale; the process is intricate due to the mix of radionuclides present in INF. As a global trend for nuclear power and reprocessing continues, research is geared toward optimizing the extraction of...