Actinide recovery from pyrochemical residues

Abstract

We demonstrated a new process for recovering plutonium and americium from pyrochemical waste. The method is based on chloride solution anion exchange at low acidity, or acidity that eliminates corrosive HCl fumes. Developmental experiments of the process flow chart concentrated on molten salt extraction (MSE) residues and gave >95% plutonium and >90% americium recovery. The recovered plutonium contained <500 ppM americium and <2500 ppM magnesium. The process operates by sorbing PuCl/sub 6//sup 2 -/ from high-chloride low-acid solution. Americium and other metals are washed from the ion exchange column with lN HNO/sub 3/-4.8M NaCl. After elution, plutonium is recovered by hydroxide precipitation, and americium is recovered by NaHCO/sub 3/ precipitation. All filtrates from the process can be discardable as low-level contaminated waste. Production-scale experiments are in progress for MSE residues. Flow charts for actinide recovery from electro-refining and direct oxide reduction residues are presented and discussed.