Study of minor actinide recovery process for the oxide pyro-process

In the Oxide Pyro-process, oxides of U, Np and Pu and be co-deposited as MOX from their oxide ions in the melt. Due to the difference of their deposition potential, neither Am nor Cm will co-deposit in the MOX. An additional process must be developed to recover them without FP especially the lanthanides. Various processes were reviewed based on existing experimental data and thermodynamic considerations. As the result, the liquid metal extraction seems to be most promising. Based on the measured separation factor of Am against Nd in the LiCl-KCl/Bi system, MA recovery rate can be higher than 95% with DF equals 10. The number of steps can be reduced if there is any other liquid metal such as Al and Ga with higher separation factor. As for the carbonate precipitation, some subsequent separation process will be needed. A new process named MAPLE is proposed for it; where Li is applied to reduce only MA from oxide to metal in LiCl melt while keeping lanthanides as their oxides. If it works as expected, it will have higher recovery rate such as 99% without lowering the DF. (author)