Trichotomic separation of light and heavy lanthanides and Am by batchwise multi-stage extractions using TODGA

Matsumiya, Masahiko*; Tsuchida, Yusuke*; Sasaki, Yuji  ; Ono, Ryoma*; Nakase, Masahiko*; Takeshita, Kenji*

To achieve trichotomic separation of light lanthanides (Ln), heavy Ln, and Am, batchwise multi-stage extractions using tetraoctyl-diglycolamide (TODGA) extractant from organic acids are studied. Malonic acid (MA) has high solubility in water and is used as the main component of the aqueous phase. It is clear that the separation factor (SF) for Nd/Am from MA and that for La/Am from MA + HNO are both around 30. The light Ln (e.g., La and Ce) flowed-out in 1 M MA+0.05 M HNO (1st soln.), Am is recovered into 3 M MA (2nd soln.), and middle and heavy Ln (Nd and other heavy Ln) are back-extracted into 0.1 M TEDGA/water (3rd soln.). This extraction method can give 95% recovery of Am with total Ln of less than 16% present in high-level radioactive waste.