Isolating 241Am from waste solutions containing Al, Ca, Fe, and Cr
Description
About 2.4 kg of 241Am contaminated with calcium and aluminum had been recovered from low-activity waste during recycle of 11% 240Pu. A process was developed and demonstrated to purify the americium before shipment as 241AmO2. The americium and some of the calcium were batch extracted into 50% TBP-n-paraffin from 2.2M Al(NO3)3 - 0.3M HNO3 solution in a canyon tank. Pregnant solvent was scrubbed first with 2.1M Al3+-0.3M Li+-6.7M NO3- and then with 7M LiNO3 to reduce the calcium content and to displace the aluminum. Americium was then stripped from the solvent with water and concentrated by evaporation. Before precipitating the americium with oxalic acid, the nitric acid was adjusted with NH4OH to yield a 1M NH4NO3 solution. Recovery across the batch extraction step was 97.8%, while 93% of the calcium and >99% of the aluminum was rejected. Recovery across precipitation averaged >96% while producing a product which was >99.3% pure 241AmO2. The major impurities were water, carbon, calcium, iron, and zinc
Availability note (English)
MF available from INIS under the Report Number; Available from NTIS., PC A03/MF A01 as DE82009005.
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Additional details
Publishing Information
- Imprint Pagination
- 29 p.
- Report number
- DP--1581
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- United States
- INIS RN
- 13698732
- Subject category
- S11: NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; S37: INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY;
- Resource subtype / Literary indicator
- Numerical Data
- Descriptors DEI
- ALUMINIUM; ALUMINIUM NITRATES; AMERICIUM; AMERICIUM OXIDES; AMERICIUM 241; AMMONIUM HYDROXIDES; CALCIUM; CARBON; EVAPORATION; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; IMPURITIES; IRON; LITHIUM NITRATES; NITRIC ACID; OXALIC ACID; PARAFFIN; PLUTONIUM 240; PRECIPITATION; PURIFICATION; REPROCESSING; SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT; SOLVENT EXTRACTION; TBP; ZINC
- Descriptors DEC
- ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS; ACTINIDE NUCLEI; ACTINIDES; ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS; ALKALINE EARTH METALS; ALKANES; ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS; AMERICIUM COMPOUNDS; AMERICIUM ISOTOPES; AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS; BUTYL PHOSPHATES; CARBOXYLIC ACIDS; CHALCOGENIDES; DATA; DICARBOXYLIC ACIDS; ELEMENTS; ESTERS; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; HEAVY NUCLEI; HYDROCARBONS; HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS; HYDROXIDES; INFORMATION; INORGANIC ACIDS; ISOTOPES; LITHIUM COMPOUNDS; METALS; NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS; NITRATES; NITROGEN COMPOUNDS; NONMETALS; NUCLEI; NUMERICAL DATA; ODD-EVEN NUCLEI; ORGANIC ACIDS; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS; OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; OXIDES; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS; PHOSPHORIC ACID ESTERS; PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES; RADIOISOTOPES; SEPARATION PROCESSES; TRANSITION ELEMENTS; TRANSPLUTONIUM COMPOUNDS; TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS; TRANSURANIUM COMPOUNDS; TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS; US AEC; US ERDA; US ORGANIZATIONS; WAXES; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES