Use of cationites for separation of transplutonium elements from other elements from aqueous and aqua-alcohol solutions of hydrochloric and nitric acids

The behaviour of Am, Cm, Pu and certain fragment elements (Cs, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ru, Eu) on cationite dauex-50 in aqueous and aqueous-alcohol solutions of HCl and HNO3 has been studied. Dependences of distribution coefficients and separation factors of the elements on the acid concentration and alcohol content in the solutions are presented. The sorption of TPE by cationite from HCl and HNO3 solutions in the presence of alcohol is shown to increase over the range of concentrations studied (from 0.5 mol/L to 4-5 mol/L), which is explained by the salting-out effect of alcohol. The distribution coefficients of TPE in the solutions, containing >= 50% alcohol, constitute >= 102. The distribution coefficients of the fragment elements in the presence of alcohol also increase, but to a considerably lesser extent, which results in a better separation. The study of the washing-out curves has shown that, to separate TPE from fragment elements on cationites, both HCl and HNO3 solutions can be used, at that, in the case of aqueous solutions a better separation is attained at acid concentration, equal to 1 mol/L, and in the case of eluating by aqueous-alcohol solutions a good separation is achieved at hig-her concentrations of the acids as well