Development of advanced reprocessing system based on precipitation method using pyrrolidone derivatives as precipitants; Precipitation behavior of U(VI), Pu(IV), and Pu(VI) by pyrrolidone derivatives with low hydrophobicity

Morita, Yasuji  ; Takao, Koichiro*; Kim, S.-Y.; Kawata, Yoshihisa; Harada, Masayuki*; Nogami, Masanobu*; Nishimura, Kenji*; Ikeda, Yasuhisa*

A reprocessing system for spent FBR fuels consisting of two precipitation processes has been proposed. In this system, first only U(IV) species are precipitated using pyrrolidone derivative with low hydrophobicity and donicity, and secondly residual U(VI) and Pu(IV, VI) are precipitated simultaneously using pyrrolidone derivative with high precipitation ability. In this study, we have examined precipitation behavior of U(VI), Pu(IV), and Pu(VI) species in nitric acid solutions by using --propyl-2-pyrrolidone (NProP), -butyl-2-pyrrolidone (NBP), --butyl-2-pyrrolidone (NiBP), or -cyclohexyl-2-pyrrolidone (NCP) to select the precipitants for the first precipitation process. As a result, NBP were found to be the most promising precipitant for the first precipitation process.