Development of a TODGA based Process for Partitioning of Actinides from a PUREX Raffinate Part I: Batch Extraction Optimization Studies and Stability Tests

Abstract

The extractant, N,N,N′,N′‐tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA) has been evaluated for the separation of actinides(III) and lanthanides(III) from a high active raffinate (HAR). The effect of oxalic acid and HEDTA complexant on the extraction of actinides(III), lanthanides(III), and important fission products (e.g. Mo, Pd, Sr, Zr, Ru etc.) from synthetic HAR has been studied with 0.2 mol/L TODGA in TPH. With an extractant mixture of TODGA and tributyl phosphate (TBP) the amount of oxalic acid can be reduced to less than 0.3 mol/L for the effective complexation of zirconium, whereas the distribution ratios of actinides(III) and lanthanides(III) are still high for the separation from HAR. Furthermore the maximum loading of lanthanides (e.g. Nd) can be significantly increased by adding TBP to the extractant. However, the extraction of oxalic acid and nitric acid also increased by the addition of TBP, which can lead to problems during back extraction of the loaded extractant. Extraction studies after radiolysis and hydrolysis reveal that the TODGA+TBP mixture is a sufficient stable extraction system suited for further process development studies.

Keywords:

• Solvent extraction
• partitioning
• TODGA
• TBP
• minor actinides
• americium

Acknowledgment

Financial support from the European Commission is acknowledged (project EUROPART, contract FI6W‐CT‐2003‐508854). The authors would like to express their thanks to Dr. S. Willbold (ZCH) for performing the NMR measurements.