Adsorbents development for extraction chromatography on Am and Cm separation

Koma, Yoshikazu  ; Sano, Yuichi   ; Morita, Yasuji  ; Asakura, Toshihide

The chromatography technology has been investigated for actinides (An) (III) separation from a highly acidic solution as a part of reprocessing system for spent fast breeder reactor fuel. The adsorbent for the chromatography is based on the porous silica support impregnated with an extractant that is used for solvent extraction. Several extractants, CMPO, TODGA, HDEHP and BTP, were examined for the two steps flowsheet; An(III)/lanthanides (Ln) (III) recovery and An(III)/Ln(III) separation. The CMPO and TODGA adsorbents are the potential candidate from the chromatogram of Am, Cm and some fission product elements for An(III)-Ln(III) recovery whereas the HDEHP and BTP adsorbents are for An(III)/Ln(III) separation. The regenerated adsorbents after removing and re-impregnating the extractant show the identical adsorption property to the original.