Development of separation technology of Mo by using iron oxide adsorbents (Contract research)

Molybdenum which is contained in high-level radioactive liquid wastes (HLLW) has very low solubility in borosilicate glasses. If Mo can be separated from the HLLW, the volume of the final waste packages can be reduced. In this study, we will report on separation of Mo from simulated HLLW using various metal oxides adsorbent. Fe-Pb oxides and manganese oxide showed very high solubility in nitric acid solution. The distribution coefficient of Mo was decreased with increasing nitric acid concentration among tested adsorbents. Adsorption ability of Mo on alumina and cobalt oxide was low in 3M nitric acid. Hematite type iron oxide (Fe adsorbent) and amorphous zirconium oxide had high Mo adsorption ability, in 3M nitric acid. TRU, U and major fission products were not adsorbed on the adsorbent. So, separation of Mo can be achieved by using Fe adsorbent. A part of Mo was adsorbed irreversibly on Fe adsorbent, but reversibly-adsorbed Mo was recovered by oxalic acid, and the adsorbent was able to use repeatedly. Behavior of break-through of Mo is estimated from adsorption isotherm and overall mass transfer coefficient. We found that amount of throughput of Mo increased with decreasing grain size of the adsorbent. (author)