Extraction behavior of uranium(VI), plutonium(IV) and some fission products with gamma pre-irradiatedn-dodecane solutions of N,N′-dihexyl substituted amides

Abstract

The extraction behavior of uranium(VI), plutonium(IV) and some fission products like zirconium(IV), ruthenium(III) and europium(III) from 3.5M nitric acid with γ-irradiated organic phase pre-equilibratedn-dodecane solutions of dihexyl derivatives of hexanamide (DHHA), octanamide (DHOA) and decanamide (DHDA) has been investigated as a function of absorbed dose upto 184·104 Gy. The results indicate that the extraction of uranium(VI) decreases gradually with dose upto 72·104 Gy and becomes almost constant thereafter, while, the extraction of plutonium(IV) decreases upto a dose of 20·104 Gy and then increases rapidly up to a dose of 82·104 Gy indicating synergistic effects of radiolytic products formed at higher doses. Extraction of zirconium(IV) increases gradually upto a dose of 72·104 Gy. Europium(III) does not get extracted with any of these amides in the entire dose range (0–184·104 Gy) studied, however, ruthenium shows insignificant increase in extraction with dose. The decrease inD values noticed in the case of plutonium and zirconium after the dose of 72·104 Gy which was attributed to the third phase formation and emulsification. Infrared studies confirm the final products of radiolysis as the respective amines and carboxylic acids. The degraded amide contents have been estimated by quantitative IR spectrophotometric technique. Extraction data obtained for uranium(VI) and plutonium(IV) with TBP/n-dodecane system have also been compared under similar experimental conditions.