Surfactant based analytical method for the determination of HDBP in reprocessing plant samples

Spent fuels discharged from the fast reactor are reprocessed through Purex process (Plutonium Uranium recovery by extraction). In this process, uranium and plutonium present in nitric acid is selectively extracted by 30% (v/v) Tri-n-Butyl-Phosphate (TBP) dissolved in normal paraffin hydrocarbon (NPH) as solvent) leaving fission products to aqueous waste. Uranium and plutonium present in TBP phase is stripped to aqueous phase generating lean organic waste. The lean organic is treated with sodium carbonate or hydrazine carbonate etc., to remove degradation products such as HDBP, H₂MBP, H₃PO₄ for recycling of solvent. It is known that degradation products of TBP increase the loss of Pu and U concentration and decreased the decontamination factor (DF) from troublesome fission products also create the problem of interfacial cruds. Hence, the quality of TBP is analyzed by determining HDBP concentration. HDBP is determined by Gas Chromatograph (GC) but requires conversion of HDBP to its ester by reacting with reactive diazomethane, whereas Ion Chromatograph (IC) method needs expensive instrument