Separation of Am by a mixed solvent of two extractants (ADAAM and B-TONAADA) in the SELECT process

Suzuki, Hideya*; Shimojo, Kojiro   ; Nakamura, Satoshi  ; Emori, Tatsuya; Kurosawa, Tatsuya*; Shibata, Mitsunobu*; Kawasaki, Tomohiro*; Ban, Yasutoshi  

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been studying partitioning and transmutation (P&T) systems. In P&T, JAEA proposed a novel hydrometallurgical process called "SELECT (Solvent Extraction from Liquid waste using Extractants of CHON-type for Transmutation) process" for nuclear fuel reprocessing and minor actinides (MA) separation. In this study, a new MA separation method was investigated to further improve the efficiency of the SELECT process. Batch tests were conducted in a mixed solvent system using the acidic amide-type extractants nitrilotriacetic acid diacetamide with branched side chains (B-TONAADA) and alkyl diamidoamine (ADAAM). As a result, we found an efficient method for separating only americium (Am) from an aqueous nitric acid solution containing MA and rare earth elements by adjusting nitric acid concentration.