Improvement of the process for separating gadolinium and europium by europium cementation

The content of process impurities washed out in the course of dissolution o f irradiated europim targets of various constructions was determined. The i nfluence of these impurities on europium cementation was studied. The use o f a quartz powder as the filler instead of foam alundum accelerates and sim plifies gadolinium recovery, Complete replacement of europium amalgam in th e course of cementation in the separator of a semicounterflow apparatus inc reased the degree of gadolinium recovery in one cementation cycle by a fact or of 5-6. A unit for industrial separation of europium and gadolinium by e uropium cementation was developed. The unit consists of a semicounterflow a pparatus with a mobile mercury phase, a feeder for process solutions, and a worm feeder for mercury. The process parameters of this unit were determin ed. These improvements decreased the number of cementation cycles necessary for recovering Gd-153 with required purity and reduced the content of euro pium radionuclides in the gadolinium preparation.