Adsorption Materials Development for the Separation of Actinides and Specific Fission Products from High Level Waste

Abstract

The long-term radiotoxicity of high level liquid waste (HLLW) generated in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing is governed by the content of several long-lived minor actinides (MA) and some specific fission product nuclides. To efficiently separate MA (Am, Cm) and some FPs such as Cs and Sr from the HLLW, we have been studying an advanced aqueous partitioning process, which uses selective adsorption as separation method. In this work, we prepared different types of porous silica-based organic/inorganic adsorbents with fast diffusion kinetics, improved chemical stability and low pressure drop in a packed column. So they are advantageously applicable to efficient separation of the MA and specific FP elements from HLLW. Adsorption and separation behaviors of the MA and some FP elements such as Cs and Sr were studied. Small scale separation tests using simulated and genuine nuclear waste solutions were carried out and the obtained results indicate that the proposed separation method based on selective adsorption is essentially feasible.