Commissariat &#xc0; L'&#xc9;nergie Atomique Et Aux &#xc9;nergies Alternatives

Commissariat a L'energie Atomique

Orano Cycle

Laurence Chareyre

Manuel Miguirditchian

Pascal Baron

Xavier Heres

Christian Sorel

Michel Masson

Vincent Vanel

Sylvain Costenoble

A method for the treatment of an aqueous solution resulting from the dissolution of a spent nuclear fuel in nitric acid, allowing the uranium and plutonium contained in the solution to be extracted, separated and decontaminated in a single cycle, without requiring any operation involving a reductive stripping of plutonium. Applications for the method include the processing of uranium-based and/or plutonium-based spent nuclear fuels.

Method for the treatment of an aqueous nitric solution resulting from dissolving spent nuclear fuel, said method being performed in a single cycle and without requiring any operation involving reductive stripping of plutonium

The invention relates to a process for collectively separating all the actinides (III), (IV), (V) and (VI) present in a strongly acidic aqueous phase, from the fission products, and in particular from the lanthanides, which are also present in this phase, using two extractants that operate in unconnected chemical fields. Applications: reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuels, especially to recover plutonium, neptunium, americium, curium and, possibly, uranium present in trace amounts, in a grouped manner but selectively with respect to the lanthanides, from a solution for dissolution of an irradiated nuclear fuel, downstream of a uranium extraction cycle.

Grouped separation of actinides from a strongly acidic aqueous phase

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Saint Just D'Ardeche, France

Laurence Chareyre