Application of Single-Ion Activity Coefficients to Determine the Solvent Extraction Mechanism for Components of High-Level Nuclear Waste

Abstract

The TRUEX solvent extraction process is being developed to remove and concentrate transuranic (TRU) elements from high-level and TRU radioactive wastes that are currently stored at U.S. Department of Energy sites. Phosphoric acid is one of the chemical species of concern in the application of solvent extraction processes for removal of actinides, for instance at the Hanford site, where bismuth phosphate was used to recover plutonium. The mechanism of phosphoric acid extraction with TRUEX-NPH solvent at 25°C was determined from phosphoric acid distribution ratios, which were measured by using a phosphoric acid radiotracer and a variety of aqueous phases containing different concentrations of nitric acid and nitrate. A model was developed for predicting phosphoric acid distribution ratios as a function of the thermodynamic activities of nitrate ion, and hydrogen ion. The Generic TRUEX Model (GTM) was used to calculate these activities based on the Bromley method. The derived model supports extraction by CMIO and TBP in TRUEX-NPH solvent of a phosphoric acid-nitric acid complex and a CMPO-phosphoric acid complex.