Talspeak Curium

Weaver, B.S., Kappelmann, F.A. 1964. Talspeak A new method of separating americium and curium from lanthanides by extraction from an aqueous solution of aminopo-lyacetic acid complex with a monoacidic phosphate or phosphonate. ORNL-3559. 

An initial experiment involving the treatment of small irradiated Pu/Al targets for the production of americium 243 and curium 244 was carried out in France in 1968 (2). The chemical process was based essentially on the use of a system comparable to the Talspeak system. After plutonium extraction by a 0.08 M trilaurylammonium nitrate solution in dodecane containing 3 vol % 2-octanol, the actinides (americium, curium) were coextracted with a fraction of the lanthanides by a 0.25 M HDEHP -dodecane solvent from an aqueous solution previously neutralized by A1(N0 ) x(0H)x and adjusted to 0.04 M DTPA. The actinides were selectively stripped by placing the organic phase in contact with an aqueous solution of the composition 3 M LiN0 -0.05 M DTPA. While this experiment achieved the recovery of 150 mg of americium 243 and 15 mg of curium 244 with good yields, the process presented a drawback due to the slow extraction of Al(III) which saturates the HDEHP. This process was therefore abandoned. 

Studies (1, 2, 3, 4) on the separation of americium-curium from lanthanide elements indicate that both cation exchange chromatography (8, 9) and the Talspeak solvent extraction process (U), 11) are promising methods. Only the most recent work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is reported in this paper. Potential chemical processes for americium-curium removal and evaluations of their feasibility have been reported previously (U 2, 3, 4). The most recent experimental work carried out includes the following ... 

Weaver, B. and Kappelmann, F. A. (1964) Talspeak A New Method of Separating Americium and Curium from the Lanthanides by Extraction from an Aqueous Solution... 

---