The removal of the most long-lived
radiotoxic elements from used nuclear fuel, minor actinides, is foreseen as an
essential step toward increasing the public acceptance of nuclear energy as a
key component of a low-carbon energy future. Once removed from the remaining
used fuel, these elements can be used as fuel in their own right in fast
reactors or converted into shorter-lived or stable elements by transmutation
prior to geological disposal. The SANEX process is proposed to carry out this
selective separation by solvent extraction. Recent efforts to develop reagents
capable of separating the radioactive minor actinides from lanthanides as part
of a future strategy for the management and reprocessing of used nuclear fuel
are reviewed. The current strategies for the reprocessing of PUREX raffinate
are summarized, and some guiding principles for the design of
actinide-selective reagents are defined. The development and testing of
different classes of solvent extraction reagent are then summarized, covering some
of the earliest ligand designs right through to the current reagents of choice,
bis(1,2,4-triazine) ligands.
Finally, we summarize research aimed at developing a fundamental understanding
of the underlying reasons for the excellent extraction capabilities and high
actinide/lanthanide selectivities shown by this class of ligands and our
recent efforts to immobilize these reagents onto solid phases.
Use of Soft Heterocyclic N-Donor Ligands To
Separate Actinides and LanthanidesMichael J. Hudson, Laurence M. Harwood,
Dominic M. Laventine, and Frank W. Lewis. Inorganic Chemistry Article
ASAP
No comments:
Post a Comment