Agents and processes design for TRU elements back extraction in TRPO process

To reduce the long-term risk of the high-level liquid waste (HLLW) and the waste disposal cost, transuranium (TRU) elements should be removed from HLLW. A so-called TRPO process has been developed by Chinese scientists to partition HLLW. In this process, the extractant, trialkyl phosphine oxide (TRPO), is able to extract TRU elements into organic phase completely, which makes the treatment and disposal of raffinate HLLW much easier. However, the treatment of extracted TRU elements in organic phase, in return, becomes new troublesome issue. Generally, there are three promising ways to treat the extracted TRU elements: (1)transmutation; (2)conditioning; (3)recycling U+Pu in Purex-TRPO Integrated Process. In any of the three ways, the back extraction agents and processes play significant roles. In this paper, the investigations on back extraction agents for TRU elements, such as TTHA, DTPA, AHA, HEDPA, DOGA, and carbonates are introduced. The corresponding back extraction processes and experimental results are reviewed. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.