Separation of Americium from Europium using Camphor-BisTriazinyl Pyridine: A Fundamental Study

ABSTRACT

Among the different components present in spent nuclear fuel, long-lived trivalent actinides are particularly difficult to separate from the shorter-lived lanthanide fission products due to their similar chemical properties. Selective extraction of americium from acidic solution (up to 2M HNO₃) containing tenth molar quantities of lanthanides has been achieved using neutral pyridine-based ligands dissolved in polar diluents. Nitrogen-based Bis Triazinyl Pyridine (BTP) ligands are desirable for both their excellent An/Ln selectivity and incinerability. Results pertaining to ligand solubility, kinetics, hydrolytic stability, and extraction performance in various nitric acid environments are presented.

Keywords:

• minor actinide lanthanide separation
• solvent extraction
• nitrogen donor extractant
• polar solvent

Additional information

Funding

This research was sponsored by the Fuel Cycle Research and Development program, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.