Solvent extraction reprocessing irradiated nuclear fuel

Nuclear Waste. NRC defines high level radioactive waste to include (/) irradiated (spent) reactor fuel (2) Hquid waste resulting from the operation of the first cycle solvent extraction system, and the concentrated wastes from subsequent extraction cycles, in a faciHty for reprocessing irradiated reactor fuel and (3) soHds into which such Hquid wastes have been converted. Approximately 23,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel has been stored at commercial nuclear reactors as of 1991. This amount is expected to double by the year 2001. 

The solvent extraction process that uses TBP solutions to recover plutonium and uranium from irradiated nuclear fuels is called Purex (plutonium uranium extraction). The Purex process provides recovery of more than 99% of both uranium and plutonium with excellent decontamination of both elements from fission products. The Purex process is used worldwide to reprocess spent reactor fuel. During the last several decades, many variations of the Purex process have been developed and demonstrated on a plant scale. 

TBP is a well-known extractant on many solvent extraction processes in the nuclear fuel processing industry. TBP has been an excellent all-around solvent for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel. It possesses all major requirements that extractants must have to be successfully applied in an industrial solvent extraction separation process. These properties have been also transferred to the solid polymeric extractant TVEX-TBP. 

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