Computational study on the separation mechanism of Am from Eu by DGA and NTA extraction reagents

Kaneko, Masashi   ; Watanabe, Masayuki   ; Matsumura, Tatsuro  

In Japan Atomic Energy Agency, the extraction reagents for the inter- and intragroup separation of mainor-actinides from lanthanides have been developed in order to construct the partitioning and transmutation process. We aim to reveal the separation mechanism using various extraction materials at a molecular level and to design the novel extraction reagents. In this study, we apply density functional calculations to the separation behavior of Am(III) from Eu(III) by DGA and NTA ligands. All metal compounds were modeled by referring the literatures. As the result, DGA ligand selectively coordinates to Eu(III) than Am(III), on the other hand, NTA ligand preferably coordinates to Am(III) than Eu(III), being consistent with the experimental selectivity.