Behaviour of DGA and Ln resin with alpha radiation dose

Abstract

Abstract In this work the separation efficiency of the DGA and Ln extraction chromatographic resins has been investigated as a function of absorbed dose induced by alpha radiation. It was found that the resins show good stability towards alpha radiolysis, both maintaining high weight distribution ratios (and resin capacity factors) with the absorbed dose, calculated as if the complete alpha energy would be absorbed only in the resin material. However, the results obtained for Ln resin indicates that the method used in this work (extractive distribution ratio) to investigate alpha radiolytic behaviour is not appropriate. The reason is likely the strong acid dependency of this particular extraction system. The behaviour of the DGA resin towards alpha radiolysis was compared to alpha radiolysis in ordinary liquid-liquid extraction of an organic solvent based on the same extractant, TODGA, dissolved in n-dodecan. It was found that the alpha radiolysis rate of TODGA is about 5 times higher in liquid-liquid extraction where the complete energy of the alpha particle is deposited within the solvent, compared to the DGA resin. This indicates that in the heterogeneous DGA resin system, only 20% of the alpha energy is actually deposited to the organic solvent layered onto the particles of the DGA resin.