Ut-battelle, Inc.

Guillermo D DelCul

Rodney D Hunt

Emory D Collins

Jared A Johnson

Barry B Spencer

Chaitanya Kumar Narula

Ramesh R Bhave

Melanie Moses DeBusk

Laetitia H Delmau

A system and method for the extraction of americium from radioactive waste solutions. The method includes the transfer of highly oxidized americium from an acidic aqueous feed solution through an immobilized liquid membrane to an organic receiving solvent, for example tributyl phosphate. The immobilized liquid membrane includes porous support and separating layers loaded with tributyl phosphate. The extracted solution is subsequently stripped of americium and recycled at the immobilized liquid membrane as neat tributyl phosphate for the continuous extraction of americium. The sequestered americium can be used as a nuclear fuel, a nuclear fuel component or a radiation source, and the remaining constituent elements in the aqueous feed solution can be stored in glassified waste forms substantially free of americium.

Supported liquid inorganic membranes for nuclear waste separation

A method for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from a light water reactor includes the step of reacting spent nuclear fuel in a voloxidation vessel with an oxidizing gas having nitrogen dioxide and oxygen for a period sufficient to generate a solid oxidation product of the spent nuclear fuel. The reacting step includes the step of reacting, in a first zone of the voloxidation vessel, spent nuclear fuel with the oxidizing gas at a temperature ranging from 200-450&#xb0; C. to form an oxidized reaction product, and regenerating nitrogen dioxide, in a second zone of the voloxidation vessel, by reacting oxidizing gas comprising nitrogen monoxide and oxygen at a temperature ranging from 0-80&#xb0; C. The first zone and the second zone can be separate. A voloxidation system is also disclosed.

Advanced dry head-end reprocessing of light water reactor spent nuclear fuel

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Powell, TN, United States of America

Guillermo D DelCul