EVALUATION OF THE SREX SOLVENT-EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR THE REMOVAL OF SR-90 AND HAZARDOUS METALS FROM ACIDIC NUCLEAR WASTE SOLUTIONS CONTAINING HIGH-CONCENTRATIONS OF INTERFERING ALKALI-METAL IONS
Dj. Wood et Jd. Law, EVALUATION OF THE SREX SOLVENT-EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR THE REMOVAL OF SR-90 AND HAZARDOUS METALS FROM ACIDIC NUCLEAR WASTE SOLUTIONS CONTAINING HIGH-CONCENTRATIONS OF INTERFERING ALKALI-METAL IONS, Separation science and technology, 32(1-4), 1997, pp. 241-253
The SREX process, which was developed at Argonne National Laboratories
, has been evaluated for its effectiveness for the decontamination of
radioactive liquid waste at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant locate
d at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The extraction solvent
consists of 0.15 M 4',4',(5')-di-(t-butyl-dicyclohexo)-18-crown-6 in
either 1.2 (M) under bar TBP/Isopar L(R). Suppressed extraction due to
matrix interferences limits D-Sr values to the range of 3-4 in batch
extraction experiments. The SREX solvent has been shown to be effectiv
e in the removal of non-radioactive Pb from liquid wastes, in addition
to the extraction of Sr-90. The information from this study has been
used to develop a proposed flowsheet for the treatment of liquid waste
in centrifugal contactors.