Recovery of technetium from nuclear fuel wastes

Technetium is removed from aqueous, acidic waste solutions. The acidic waste solution is mixed with a flocculant, e.g., an alkaline earth metal hydroxide or oxide, to precipitate certain fission products. Technetium remains in solution and in the resulting supernatant alkaline aqueous phase. The supernatant alkaline aqueous phase is made acidic and electrolyzed in an electrolytic cell under controlled cathodic potential conditions to deposit technetium on the cathode. Elemental technetium is removed from the cathode. Technetium is separated from other plated fission product metals by extraction from an alkaline solution with an organic extractant, such as pyridine, having affinity for technetium. Technetium is separated from the organic extractant by steam distillation and the resulting aqueous phase treated with ammoniacal reagent to precipitate technetium as ammonium pertechnetate. The precipitate may be acidified to form an aqueous acidic solution of fission product metal values and the solution electrolyzed in an electrolytic cell under controlled cathodic potential conditions and at a potential sufficiently negative to plate out from the solution those fission product metals desired. The metal deposit is stripped from the cathode and stored until its radioactivity has diminished. (U.S.)