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Zurückgezogen: Glutarimidedioxime: A Complexing and Reducing Reagent for Plutonium Recovery from Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing
Author(s) -
Xian Liang,
Tian Guoxin,
Beavers Christine M.,
Teat Simon J.,
Shuh David K.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201510712
Subject(s) - purex , plutonium , spent nuclear fuel , chemistry , reagent , tributyl phosphate , stripping (fiber) , uranium , transuranium element , actinide , radiochemistry , data scrubbing , nuclear chemistry , extraction (chemistry) , materials science , waste management , chromatography , organic chemistry , solvent extraction , engineering , composite material , metallurgy
Efficient separation processes for recovering uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel are essential to the development of advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The performance characteristics of a new salt‐free complexing and reducing reagent, glutarimidedioxime (H 2 A), are reported for recovering plutonium in a PUREX process. With a phase ratio of organic to aqueous of up to 10:1, plutonium can be effectively stripped from 30 % tributyl phosphate (TBP) in kerosene into 1 m HNO 3 with H 2 A. The complexation‐reduction mechanism is illustrated with the combination of UV/Vis absorption spectra and the crystal structure of a Pu IV complex with the reagent. The fast stripping rate and the high efficiency for stripping Pu IV , through the complexation‐reduction mechanism, is suitable for use in centrifugal contactors with very short contact/resident times, thereby offering significant advantages over conventional processes.