Nuclear chemistry waste from

In 1976 he was appointed to Associate Professor for Technical Chemistry at the University Hannover. His research group experimentally investigated the interrelation of adsorption, transfer processes and chemical reaction in bubble columns by means of various model reactions a) the formation of tertiary-butanol from isobutene in the presence of sulphuric acid as a catalyst b) the absorption and interphase mass transfer of CO2 in the presence and absence of the enzyme carboanhydrase c) chlorination of toluene d) Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Based on these data, the processes were mathematically modelled Fluid dynamic properties in Fischer-Tropsch Slurry Reactors were evaluated and mass transfer limitation of the process was proved. In addition, the solubiHties of oxygen and CO2 in various aqueous solutions and those of chlorine in benzene and toluene were determined. Within the framework of development of a process for reconditioning of nuclear fuel wastes the kinetics of the denitration of efQuents with formic acid was investigated. 

Solvent extraction separates heavy metals (in particular, the actinides) from lighter metals and from each other and has been an important tool for nuclear chemistry over the last 60 years. As seen in the other chapters of this book, solvent-extraction chemistry remains of vital interest for nuclear fuel reprocessing and for the cleanup and segregation of nuclear waste. 

In the field of radioactive waste management, the hazardous material consists to a large extent of actinides and fission products from nuclear reactors, in addition to lesser amounts from other sources such as waste from medicine, industry and research facilities. The scientific literature on thermodynamic data, mainly on equihbrium constants and redox potentials in aqueous solution, has been contradictory in a number of cases, especially in the actinide chemistry. A critical and comprehensive review of the available literature is necessary in order to establish a reliable thermoehemieal data base that fulfils the requirements of a proper modelling of the behaviour of the actinide and fission products in the environment. 

Nuclear chemistry plays an essential part in achieving safety and reliability in this source of power. Nuclear chemists and engineers are responsible for much of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium ore processing to ultimate disposal of radioactive waste. 

Even nuclear power, both fission and one day fusion (the emulation on Earth of the Sun), depend on the skills of chemists. The construction of nuclear reactors depends on the availability of new materials, and the extraction of nuclear fuel in the form of uranium and its oxides from its ores involves chemistry. Everyone knows that one fear that holds back the development and public acceptance of nuclear energy, apart from political and economic problems, is the problem of how to dispose of the highly radioactive spent fuel. Chemists contribute by finding ways to extract useful isotopes from nuclear waste and by finding ways to ensure that it does not enter the environment and become a hazard for centuries. 

Chapter 13 is Chapter 4 from the previous edition and focuses on fundamental nuclear chemistry. Usefiil apphcations of radioactivity are considered. In this context, a discussion of the nse of radiocarbon dating has been added. A msgor focus of the chapter is the use of energy from nuclear reactions and this discussion has driven the chapter placement after the chapter on hydrocarbon fiiels. Comparisons between low-level radioactive waste and high-level radioactive waste have been added. 

This paper is concerned primarily with the application of chemistry to the control of radioactive waste products from the use of nuclear energy. As far as immediate effects are concerned, nuclear power from uranium is a particularly clean energy source (1). The radioactive waste prpducts are well contained within the used fuel bundles. Since some constituents of the radioactive wastes take almost a thousand years to decay to an innocuous level and a few persist for many millennia, e.g. we have to ensure... 

Kenna, B.T. and Murphy, K.D., "Separation of Cs From Nuclear Waste," Nuclear and Cosmological Chemistry Symposium, ACS Meeting, Anaheim, CA, 1978. Submitted for publication in J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem. 

Bonnesen, P.V., Haverlock, T.J., Engle, N.L., Sachleben, R.A., Moyer, B.A. 2000. Development of process chemistry for the removal of cesium from acidic nuclear waste by calix[4]arene-crown-6 ethers. In Calixarene Molecules for Separations. Lumetta, G.J., Rogers, R.D., Gopalan, A.S. Eds. ACS Symposium Series Vol. 757, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp. 26-44. 

Solvent extraction In hydrometallurgy to recover metals from ores In nuclear fuel reprocessing In waste water treatment To recover natural products from plants or from fermentation liquors In organic synthesis and analytical chemistry As a degreaser and cleaning agent... 

Introduction actinide solubilities in reference waters. In this section, the environmental chemistry of the actinides is examined in more detail by considering three different geochemical environments. Compositions of groundwater from these environments are described in Tables 5 and 6. These include (i) low-ionic-strength reducing waters from crystalline rocks at nuclear waste research sites in Sweden (ii) oxic water from the J-13 well at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the site of a proposed repository for high-level nuclear waste in tuffaceous rocks and (iii) reference brines associated with the WIPP, a repository for TRU in... 

Neptunium-237 Np-237 has two production routes. The first is rapid /3 decay of U-237 produced by nuclear reactions in the fuel. The second route is /3 decay of Pu-241 to Am-241, which decays losing an a particle to Np-237. This second route will lead to the in-growth of Np-237 in the waste during storage. Np-237 will only be present in waste contaminated with actinides. This is demonstrated by the waste streams that were found to exceed the GQ level. They were IX resin and sludge from BWA and SPF eontents from HPA. Adequate estimates of Np-237 can be made by ratio to Cs-137 determined by FISPIN in the first instance and then refined by taking account of the accumulation and chemistry of other transuranics already measured. At higher concentrations, it can also be measured by y spectrometry of the short-... 

The separation of actinides has been studied for various purposes in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). The works which have been carried out so far, are classified into four categories preparation studies of actinides nuclides, separation chemistry for chemical analysis, separation of actinides from radioactive waste, and studies on reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels. The present work is to review studies of actinide separation performed in JAERI, emphasizing the need of the separation for the main purpose of individual. Concern is focussed on the separation of transuranium elements and studies on thorium and uranium are put aside. 

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