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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 international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201510712
Subject(s) - plutonium , purex , spent nuclear fuel , tributyl phosphate , reagent , chemistry , stripping (fiber) , uranium , data scrubbing , radiochemistry , actinide , transuranium element , nuclear chemistry , waste management , extraction (chemistry) , materials science , solvent extraction , chromatography , composite material , engineering , 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.
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