High Performance Separation and Supercritical Extraction of Lanthanides and Actinides

Extensive studies were carried out at Chemistry Group, IGCAR for the rapid separation of individual lanthanides and actinides using dynamic ion-exchange chromatographic technique. The atom percent fission was determined from the concentrations of the lanthanide fission products, uranium and plutonium contents of dissolver solution. These advantages were exploited to significantly reduce analysis time, liquid waste generation as well as dose to operator. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of actinides from waste matrices was studied in detail at our laboratory using modified supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO2). Complete extraction and recovery of uranium, plutonium and americium from various matrices was achieved using Sc-CO2 modified with suitable ligands. The technique was demonstrated for the recovery of plutonium from actual waste received from different laboratories.