Demonstration of a crown ether process for partitioning strontium from high level liquid waste (HLLW)

Abstract

Abstract Chinese HLLW with a higher-salt liquid that was generated via plutonium uranium recovery by extraction (PUREX) processing was temporarily stored in stainless steel tanks and is waiting for treatment. The volume and heat-loading of the glass block are reduced if the strontium, cesium, actinides and other long-life radioactive elements, such as Tc in the HLLW, are partitioned before the HLLW verification. This process is beneficial to preserve the capacity of the geological disposal repository and to minimize long-term hazards. The process of partitioning strontium from Chinese HLLW using Dicyclohexano-18Crown-6(DCH18C-6) was developed in past decades, including such fundamental studies as the small scale cold and hot test. In this work, new studies are introduced, including the cold and the long time hot cascade tests, using a miniature centrifugal contactor set and the pilot-scale cold test using pulse extraction columns. The results indicate that the crown process is promising for partitioning strontium from Chinese HLLW.