Uranium dioxide oxidation by hydrogen peroxide in carbonate medium

Uranium dioxide oxidation by hydrogen peroxide in carbonate media was investigated. It was established that the value of oxidation potential in UO2-H2O2-Fe2+,3+-HCO3 system was determined by hydrogen peroxide in contrast to similar systems in sulfuric acid medium, where iron ions were considered to be potential-determining substance. It is shown that oxidation activity of hydrogen peroxide with respect to UO2 depends exactly on pH value in 7.5-9.0 range and is practically independent of it in the region of its higher values. Preference of conducting UO2 oxidation by hydrogen peroxide in solutios of bicarbonates of ammonium, alkaline and alkaline-earth metals, including their saturation with carbon dioxide, was concluded on the basis of obtained results. Behaviour of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer with its analogue - ammonium peroxysulphate - was correlated; the last one in carbonate media manifests sufficiently lower oxidation activity with respect to uranium dioxide, as compared to hydrogen peroxide