Abstract
Experimental investigations to determine fission product separation from actinides (U and Pu) while employing the Plutonium Uranium Recovery by Extraction (PUREX) process to purify plutonium produced in a fast neutron irradiated depleted uranium dioxide (DUO2) target were conducted. The sample was a DUO2 pellet (0.256 wt% 235U) irradiated to a low-burnup (4.43±0.31 GW d/tHM) that was PUREX processed 538 days after neutron irradiation. Decontamination factors (DF) for the elements U, Mo, Ru, Ce, Sm, Sr, Pm, Eu, Nd, Pd, and Cd were measured with mass spectroscopy in two experiments using 30 vol% tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) in a kerosene diluent. The first experiment characterized Pu DFs for a single stage extraction and back-extraction, while the second experiment had multiple stages with the goal of achieving greater Pu recovery. The benchtop scale PUREX process had overall Pu recoveries of (83.4±9.5)% and (99.7±4.2)% for the first and second experiments, respectively.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 38-42 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Applied Radiation and Isotopes |
Volume | 118 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Funding
The work is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, through the U.S. National Science Foundation under award numbers ECCS-1140018, 2012-DN-077-ARI1057-02&03, and 2015-DN-077-ARI099 . The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Keywords
- Decontamination factor
- Irradiated depleted uranium
- PUREX