The United States of America As Represented by the Department of Energy

The United States of America As Represented by the United States

Ken N Brewer

Terry Allen Todd

Valeriy Nicholiavich Romanovskiy

Igor V Smirnov

Vasiliy A Babain

Jack D Law

Ronald Scott Herbst

Leonard N Lazarev

Vyacheslav M Esimantovskiy

Boris N Zaitsev

James A Murphy

Evgeniy G Dzekun

The present invention relates to solvents, and methods, for selectively extracting and recovering radionuclides, especially cesium and strontium, rare earths and actinides from liquid radioactive wastes. More specifically, the invention relates to extracting agent solvent compositions comprising complex organoboron compounds, substituted polyethylene glycols, and neutral organophosphorus compounds in a diluent. The preferred solvent comprises a chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide, diphenyl-dibutylmethylenecarbamoylphosphine oxide, PEG-400, and a diluent of phenylpolyfluoroalkyl sulfone. The invention also provides a method of using the invention extracting agents to recover cesium, strontium, rare earths and actinides from liquid radioactive waste.

Solvent for the simultaneous recovery of radionuclides from liquid radioactive wastes

Cesium and strontium are extracted from aqueous acidic radioactive waste containing rare earth elements, technetium and actinides, by contacting the waste with a composition of a complex organoboron compound and polyethylene glycol in an organofluorine diluent mixture. In a preferred embodiment the complex organoboron compound is chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide, the polyethylene glycol has the formula RC,H,(OCH,CH,),OH, and the organofluorine diluent is a mixture of bis-tetrafluoropropyl ether of diethylene glycol with at least one of bis-tetrafluoropropyl ether of ethylene glycol and bis-tetrafluoropropyl formal. The rare earths, technetium and the actinides (especially uranium, plutonium and americium), are extracted from the aqueous phase using a phosphine oxide in a hydrocarbon diluent, and reextracted from the resulting organic phase into an aqueous phase by using a suitable strip reagent.

Extraction processes and solvents for recovery of cesium, strontium, rare earth elements, technetium and actinides from liquid radioactive waste

Method for the simultaneous recovery of radionuclides from liquid radioactive wastes using a solvent

A process for dissolution of spent high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters and then combining the complexed filter solution with other radioactive wastes prior to calcining the mixed and blended waste feed. The process is an alternate to a prior method of acid leaching the spent filters which is an inefficient method of treating spent HEPA filters for disposal.

Hepa filter dissolution process

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Arco, ID, United States of America

Ken N Brewer