Influence of hydrofluoric acid on extraction of thorium using a commercially available extraction chromatographic resin.
The dependence of Th recovery on hydrofluoric acid (HF) concentration in nitric acid (HNO(3)) solutions (1-5 mol/dm(3)) containing 1x10(-6) mol/dm(3) of Th and various concentrations of HF and the elution behavior were studied using a commercially available UTEVA (for uranium and tetravalent actinide) resin column. Thorium recovery decreased with an increase in HF concentration in the sample solutions. The concentration of HF at which Th recovery started to decrease was approximately 1x10(-4) mol/dm(3) in 1 mol/dm(3) HNO(3) solution, approximately 1x10(-3) mol/dm(3) in 3 mol/dm(3) HNO(3) solution, and approximately 1x10(-2) mol/dm(3) in 5 mol/dm(3) HNO(3) solution. When Al(NO(3))(3) (0.2 mol/dm(3)) or Fe(NO(3))(3) (0.6 mol/dm(3)) was added as a masking agent for F(-) to the Th solution containing 1x10(-1) mol/dm(3) HF and 1 mol/dm(3) HNO(3), Th recovery improved from 1.4+/-0.3% to 95+/-5% or 93+/-3%. Effective extraction of Th using UTEVA resin was achieved by selecting the concentration of HNO(3) and/or adding masking agents such as Al(NO(3))(3) according to the concentration of HF in the sample solution.
Shimada-Fujiwara
Asako
A
Nuclear Cycle Backend Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirane, Shirakata, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki, Japan. shimada.asako@jaea.go.jp
Hoshi
Akiko
A
Kameo
Yutaka
Y
Nakashima
Mikio
M