Americium decontamination factors

Zr-Al coprocess waste test, the feed, extractant, and scrub flows were 1, 0.5, and 0.1 mL/min, respectively. For the high sodium concentration waste, the feed, extractant, and scrub flows were 0.75, 1, and 0.25 mL/min, respectively. Samples of raffinate were drawn for analytical analysis approximately five hours after equilibrium had been reached. The resultant decontamination factors agreed reasonably well with our calculations. For the coprocess waste run, we expected an americium decontamination factor of 200. We purposely built in a large, overkillM in the sodium waste run by increasing the organic to aqueous flow rates. The sodium waste run produced a raffinate that, when calcined, would be well below the guideline for alpha-free waste with no allowance for decay. Analytical analysis of feeds and raffinates confirmed our batch results in that actinides were fractionated from major waste constituents such as aluminum, zirconium, sodium, and fluoride. 

EDTA which cloggs filters and, sometimes, even the columns. The feed pump is actuated by the signal of the gamma detector placed near the waste outlet pipe. This allows continuous feed of the active solution without the risk of polluting the waste with americium 241. On the POX. 11 column packed with 9 kg of stationary phase, one cycle served to extract 15.2 g of americium 241 present initially in 685 L of solution. The americium 241 concentration factor was 34, and the americium 241 waste decontamination factor was 250. The americium eluate contained only very small amounts of Fe and Cd. Decontamination factor of Am from Fe and Cd were 130 and 140, respectively. 

The DBBP extraction scheme provides excellent decontamination of plutonium and americium from all the other metals in the neutralized CAW solution. Kingsley(7) reports that distribution ratios for Fe3+, Al3+, Ca2+, and Mg between 30 vol% DBBP-CCI4 and neutralized CAW are, respectively, 0.11, <0.003, 0.025, and <0.0005. Primarily because of entrainment but partly because of extraction, small amounts of aluminum, iron, and sodium accompany 21tlAm into the dilute HNO3 strip solution. Richardson(9 ) in nonradioactive tests of the countercurrent DBBP 2 1Am recovery process observed decontamination factors in the range 80-180 for iron and in the range 2 x 103 - 1.5 x 105 for aluminum. 

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