Application of the TRUEX process to highly irradiated targets

The Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory processes highly irradiated targets for the Mark 42 program to separate americium, curium, and plutonium. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed the TRUEX process for the removal of transuranic elements from aqueous waste streams and a computer model that aids in the design of potential flowsheets. Because the TRUEX process is attractive for application to the large volumes of high-activity tank wastes stored at various Department of Energy sites, a test of the process on the highly irradiated Mark 42 target material would yield useful information on the performance of the process under {open_quotes}real{close_quotes} conditions. Researchers at ANL used the Generic TRUEX Model (GTM) to design a TRUEX flowsheet to process Mark 42 target material. Researchers at the REDC refurbished the Solvent Extraction Test Facility mixer-settler contactors and conducted three test runs using the TRUEX process. The results from the three demonstration tests are presented along with the predicted results from the GTM