Separation Science and Technology, Vol.43, No.9-10, 2775-2785, 2008
Purification of uranium from a uranium/molybdenum alloy
The Savannah River Site will recycle a nuclear fuel comprised of 90% uranium-10% molybdenum by weight. The process flowsheet calls for dissolution of the material in nitric acid to a uranium concentration of 15-20 g/L without the formation of precipitates. The dissolution will be followed by separation of uranium from molybdenum using solvent extraction with 7.5 vol% tributylphosphate in n-paraffin. Testing with the fuel validated dissolution and solubility data reported in the literature. Batch distribution coefficient measurements were performed for the extraction, strip, and wash stages with particular focus on the distribution of molybdenum.