Selective recovery of americium alone from PUREX or COEXTM raffinate by the EXAm process

Americium is the main contributor to the long-term radiotoxicity and to the heat generation of glasses used for the HLW conditioning. To decrease both impact on the ultimate waste and to avoid the difficult recycling of curium, the CEA has developed the EXAm process for the the separation and the recovery of the sole americium directly from PUREX or COEX^TM raffinates. The principle of the EXAm process is to extract americium and light lanthanides from high nitric acid media, leaving curium and heavy lanthanides in the raffinate. A water-soluble amide molecule, TEDGA, is added in aqueous phase to increase Am/Cm and Am/heavy lanthanides selectivity, because of the preferential complexation of curium and heavy lanthanides by this diglycolamide. Many experimental data have been acquired mainly at the extraction-scrubbing step (Am/Cm separation) and were used for the development of a phenomenological model implemented in the PAREX process simulation code. The scientific feasibility demonstration of the EXAm process was then performed on a genuine PUREX raffinate in Atalante CBP hot cell in 2010. (author)