It was found that commercial refrigerant HFC-134a (1,1, 1,2-tetrafluoroethane) dissolves 19 +/- 2 and 25 +/- 2 vol.% TBP at 1.2 MPa and 25 degrees C and at 2.8 MPa and 80 degrees C, respectively. The TBP solutions in HFC-134a effectively extract nitric acid; the [HNO3]:[TBP] molar ratio changes from 1.5:1 to 2.3:1. Experimental data showed that the recovery of uranium from uranyl nitrate in a single operation using TBP solutions in CO2 is about 80%, whereas in the case of TBP solutions in HFC-134a the recovery degree of uranium in a single operation reaches 95-98%. Effective dissolution of UO2 can be performed using the solution of TBP-nitric acid adduct in HFC-134a. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.