Recovery of uranium and thorium from zirconium oxychloride by solvent extraction

A solvent extraction process is proposed to recover uranium and thorium from the crystal waste solutions of zirconium oxychloride. The extraction of iron from hydrochloride medium with P350, the extraction of uranium from hydrochloride with N235, and the extraction of thorium from the mixture solutions of nitric acid and the hydrochloric acid with P350 was investigated. The optimum extraction conditions were evaluated with synthetic solutions by studying the parameters of extractant concentration and acidity. The optimum separation conditions for Fe (III) are recognized as 30% P350 and 4.5 to 6.0 M HCl. The optimum extraction conditions for U (VI) are recognized as 25% N235 and 4.5 to 6.0 M HCl. And the optimum extraction conditions for Th (VI) are recognized as 30% P350 and 2.5 to 3.5 M HNO₃ in the mixture solutions. The recovery of uranium and thorium from the crystal waste solutions of zirconium oxychloride was investigated also. The results indicate that the recoveries of uranium and thorium are 92 and 86%, respectively.     

Extraction of thorium(IV) by a mixture of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolone and tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide

The extraction behavior of Th(IV) from dilute nitric as well as perchloric acid medium using 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolone (PMBP) and its mixture with tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO) was investigated. The species of the type Th(X)(PMBP)₃·(HPMBP) and Th(X)(PMBP)₃·(TOPO) were extracted for the binary and ternary extraction systems, respectively, where X=NO₃− or ClO₄−. The presence of 1.25·10⁻⁵M Th carrier in the aqueous phase resulted in the extracted species of the type of Th(PMBP)₄ and Th(PMBP)₄·(TOPO), respectively. The extraction constant (logk _ex ) for the binary species Th(PMBP)₄ was found to be 6.89±0.01 while the overall extraction constant (logK) for the ternary species Th(PMBP)₄·(TOPO) was calculated to be 13.17±0.06.     

Separation studies of uranium and thorium using tetra(2-ethylhexyl) diglycolamide (TEHDGA) as an extractant

The extraction behavior of uranium, thorium and nitric acid has been investigated for the TEHDGA/isodecyl alcohol/n-dodecane solvent system. Conditional acid uptake constant (K _H) of TEHDGA/n-dodecane and the ratio of TEHDGA to nitric acid were obtained as 1.72 and 1:0.96, respectively. The extracted species of uranium and thorium in the organic phase were found to be UO₂(NO₃)₂·2TEHDGA and Th(NO₃)₄·2TEHDGA. A workable separation factor (D _Th/D _U) of the order of 300 was observed between thorium and uranium in the nitric acid range of 0.5M to 1.5M. Similar separation factor was also achieved at higher acidity when thorium was present in large concentration compared to uranium. These results indicate that TEHDGA solvent system could be a potential candidate for separation of thorium from uranium.     

Extraction of uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) from nitric acid solution by N-alkylcaprolactam

Extraction of uranium(VI), thorium(IV) from nitric acid has been studied with N-octylcaprolactam and N-(2-ethyl)hexylcaprolactam. Distribution coefficients of U(VI), Th(IV) and HNO₃ as a function of aqueous NHO₃ concentration, extractant concentration and temperature have been studied. The compositions of extracted species, thermodynamic parameters of extraction have been evaluated. Third phase formation in extraction of U(VI) has been studied. Back extraction behavior of U(VI) and Th(IV) from the organic phase has also been tested. The results obtained are compared with those obtained by using TBP under the same experimental conditions.     

Extraction of U(VI), Th(IV) and some fission products from nitric acid medium by sulfoxides and effect of γ-irradiation on the extraction

The extracting abilities for thorium, uranium and some fission products by five sulfoxides are given. The results show that di(2-ethylhexyl) sulfoxide (DEHSO) is not only completely miscible with kerosene, but also superior to tri-n-butyl phosphate in some properties. The extraction behavior of uranium, thorium and some fission products such as zirconium, niobium and ruthenium from aqueous nitric acid with DEHSO in kerosene has been studied over a wide range of conditions. DEHSO extracted uranium and fission products better than TBP under all conditions and is similar to TBP in extraction of thorium. A study of extraction mechanism indicates that U and Th are extracted as disolvates, whereas HNO₃ is extracted as monosolvate. Extraction of the two actinides decreases with increasing temperature, indicating the extraction to be exothermic. Preliminary studies show that -ray irradiated DEHSO extracts Zr and Nb to a smaller extent than irradiated TBP in the range of 10⁴–10⁷ rad.     

Extractive separation of Th(IV), U(VI), Ti(IV), La(III) and Fe(III) from Zarigan ore

In this study, the effects of various extraction parameters such as extractant types (Cyanex302, Cyanex272, TBP), acid type (nitric, sulfuric, hydrochloric) and their concentrations were studied on the thorium separation efficiency from uranium(VI), titanium(IV), lanthanum(III), iron(III) using Taguchi^??s method. Results showed that, all these variables had significant effects on the selective thorium separation. The optimum separations of thorium from uranium, titanium and iron were achieved by Cyanex302. The aqueous solutions of 0.01 and 1 M nitric acid were found as the best aqueous conditions for separating of thorium from titanium (or iron) and uranium, respectively. The combination of 0.01 M nitric acid and Cyanex272 were found that to be the optimum conditions for the selective separation of thorium from lanthanum. The results also showed that TBP could selectively extract all studied elements into organic phase leaving thorium behind in the aqueous phase. Detailed experiments showed that 0.5 M HNO₃ is the optimum acid concentration for separating of thorium from other elements with acidic extractants such as Cyanex272 and Cyanex302. The two-stage process containing TBP-Cyanex302 was proposed for separation thorium and uranium from Zarigan ore leachate.     

Extraction of Uranium and Thorium with TBP from Fluoride — Nitric Acid Solutions

The extraction of HNO₃, thorium and uranium were studied in the presence of hydrofluoric acid. The extraction constants of both the acids are shown to be close to one another which results in their mutual displacement from the organic phase. Contrary to uranium, the extraction of thorium is much reduced as the concentration of hydrofluoric acid increases which may be explained by a stronger complexation of Th by fluoride ion in the aqueous phase.     

Extraction Preconcentration of Uranium and Thorium Traces in the Analysis of Bottom Sediments by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

A procedure was developed for determining trace amounts of uranium and thorium isotopes in bottom sediments from Lake Baikal. This procedure involves sample decomposition, the coextraction of uranium and thorium with trioctylphosphine oxide, the quantitative back extraction after diluting the extract with caprylic acid, and the ICP MS analysis of the back extract. The procedure was verified by analyzing a BIL-1 Lake Baikal bottom silt standard reference material using the developed procedure and independent methods. The detection limits of abundant uranium and thorium isotopes are restricted by blank measures and equal to 1 × 10^–7 mass %. The detection limits for²³⁴U and ²³⁰Th are 4 × 10^–10 and 6 × 10^–10 mass %, respectively.     

Development and validation of a methodology for uranium radiochronometry reference material preparation

The paper describes a methodology for a reference material preparation to be used for the determination of the production date (i.e. the time elapsed since the last chemical processing) of uranium materials based on the ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U radiochronometer. The reference material was prepared from highly enriched uranium by a complete separation of thorium decay products, thus zeroing the initial daughter nuclide concentration at known time. The complete elimination of thorium from the starting material was verified by gamma spectrometric measurements and by addition of a ²³²Th tracer to the material and its re-measurement in the final product after the separation. The validation of the methodology was carried out subsequently by comparing the ingrown daughter nuclide ²³⁰Th and the measured ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U ratio after recorded times following the last chemical separation with the calculated values obtained on the basis of their respective half-lives. The prepared reference material can be used as a quality control material for age determination of uranium in nuclear forensics and safeguards as well as for method validation.     

Extraction of thorium,uranium and cerium from fresh water using manganese dioxide coprecipitation

A manganese dioxide coprecipitation procedure is utilized to replace a time-consuming evaporation step for the extraction of thorium, uranium and cerium from freshwater samples. The average recovery for 20-liter samples is greater than 95% for²³⁴Th and¹⁴⁴Ce. The data indicate that the manganese dioxide coprecipitation process does not affect the recovery of thorium and uranium during our routine analytical procedure.     

Extraction of several lanthanide and actinide radionuclides with crown ethers

The solvent extraction of several lanthanide radionuclides (¹⁴⁴Ce,¹⁴⁷Nd,¹⁵⁴Eu,¹⁷⁰Tm and¹⁶⁹Yb from aqueous picric acid solutions with (4-methylbenzo-15-crown-5) in chloroform has been investigated. The extracted species are found to be 1∶2∶3 (metal/crown/ picrate) complexes from slope analysis. The extraction equilibrium constants (K_ex) have been determined at 25 °C. The order of K_ex values for trivalent lanthanides is Nd³⁺> >Eu³⁺>Ce³⁺>Tm³⁺>Yb³⁺. This suggests that the ionic size of Nd³⁺ (r=0.995 Å) may be nearer to the cavity size of (4-methylbenzo-15-crown-5) than the other lanthanides. The extraction of thorium(IV) and uranium(IV, VI) by some crown ethers from nitric, hydrochloric and picric acid solutins have been studied. In nitric acid media, thorium(IV) forms a 1∶2 complex with DC18C6 or DC24C8, resembling plutonium(IV) and neptunium(IV) (identification of these reagents is given in Table 1 and Fig. 1). In hydrochloric acid media, the extraction of uranium(IV, VI) leads to a large loading and may be suitable for practical application. The far infrared spectra of the extracted complex in 1,2-dichloroethane have been examined for the UO₂Cl₂?DCI8C6, UO₂Cl₂?DC24C8, Th(NO₃)₄?DC18C6 and Th (NO₃)₄?DC24C8 systems. The spectra show the existence of direct bonding between the extracted metal ion and the oxygen donor in the ring of these crown ethers.     

Determination of optimum process conditions for solvent extraction of thorium using Taguchi method

Solvent extraction of thorium was studied using Taguchi method. The effect of various parameters such as acid types (sulfuric, nitric, hydrochloric, sulfuric + nitric) and their concentrations from 0.001 to 4 M, initial thorium concentration (0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 M) and solvent type (TBP, D₂EHPA, Cyanex921, Cyanex272) in the ranges of 0.001 to 1 M on thorium extraction efficiency were investigated. The maximum extraction of thorium was obtained while 0.001 M hydrochloric acid, 0.001 or 0.01 M thorium and Cyanex272 were used. Under these optimum conditions, the extraction percent and distribution coefficient of thorium were 98.7% and 73.8, respectively. Compared with the hydrochloric aqueous solution, the nitric acid system showed less variation in the extraction of thorium. The proposed process has been applied for the separation of Th(IV), U(VI), La(III), and Ce(III) from synthetic solution same as thorium ores (monazite).     

Ultratrace analysis of uranium and thorium in glass

It is today a most common phenomenon that ultratrace analyses for quality control have to be carried out in industrial laboratories far from optimum conditions and in spite of the lack of best suited equipment. It was against this setting that the development of a method for the photometric determination of uranium- and thorium-traces in glasses with arsenazo III was envisaged. The method basically consists of a digestion with HF/HClO₄/H₃BO₃, an extractive preseparation of interfering Ti- and Zr-traces with TTFA/hexanol/CCl₄, an extractive separation of U- and Th-traces with TTFA/TBP/toluene and a final determination of thorium alone (in the presence of photometrically inactive U(VI)) and the sum of Th+U(IV) with arsenazo III.The concentration of uranium is calculated from the difference of the sum of both traces minus the thorium content. Uranium can be determined with nearly the same sensitivity as thorium after reduction to uranium(IV). The most suitable reducing agent for uranium(VI) to uranium(IV) is a mixture of Na₂S₂O₄/CH₂O. An optimization of the arsenazo III concentration for the determination of thorium and uranium yielded an optimal concentration of 80 mg/L arsenazo III: For the reduction of uranium concentrations of 2 g/L of Na₂S₂O₄ and 3.2 g/L CH₂O proved to be optimal. Interferences of this photometric end determination by titanium, zirconium and scandium were investigated quantitatively. The permissible excess for these elements was found to be so low that a trace-trace separation method proved to be necessary. Separation methods were checked for the separation of the matrix components of the investigated glasses from thorium and uranium. One of these methods was suitable after optimization: thorium and uranium are extracted with TTFA/TBP/toluene from a solution containing hydrochloric acid. Back-extraction is carried out with HCl/KMnO₄. For the separation of titanium- and zirconium-cotraces an extra separation method had to be developed: they are extracted with TTFA/hexanol/CCl₄ before the separation of uranium- and thorium-traces from the matrix. The glasses were digested with HF/HX. Fluoride from the hydrofluoric acid is incompletely removed by evaporation and interferes with the extraction of uranium and thorium due to complex formation. Depending on the digestion variant used 162 to 0.23 mg F^– remain in the residue of the digestion of a 5 g sample. This interference was eliminated by a digestion with HF/HClO₄/H₃BO₃ and masking of residual fluoride with AlCl₃.Abbreviations used Arsenazo III 1,8-Dihydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulphonic acid-2,7-bis [(azo-2)-phenylarsonic acid] - Arsenazo I 1,8-Dihydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulphonic acid-2-[(azo-2)-phenylarsonic acid] - BPAP 2- (5-Bromo-2-pyridy] azo)-5-diethylaminophenol - EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid - HX Designation for a high boiling mineral acid - FAAS Flame atomic absorption spectrometry - FOD 1,1,1,2,3,3,-Heptafluor-7, dimethyl-4,6-octanedione - GFAAS Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry - ICP-MS Inductively coupled plasma — mass spectrometry - ICP-OES Inductively coupled plasma — optical emission spectrometry - LAS Liquid absorption spectrophotometry (classical photometry) - m(Th) Mass of thorium - NAA Neutron activation analysis - pK_Diss Negative logarithm to the base 10 of the dissociation constant of a complex - TBP Tri-(n-butyl)-phosphate - TOPO Tri(n-octyl)-phosphinoxide - TTFA 1-(2-Thenoyl)-3,3,3-trifluoroacetone     

Extraction study of uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) salicylates with triphenylarsine oxide

Triphenylarsine oxide is proposed as an extractant for the solvent extraction of uranium and thorium salicylates. The optimum extraction conditions are established by studying the various parameters such as pH, sodium salicylate concentration, triphenylarsine oxide concentration, diluents and shaking time. The probable extracted species as ascertained by logD-logC plots are UO₂(Hsal)₂·2TPAsO and Th(Hsal)₄·2TPAsO. The method is simple, fast, precise and permits the determination of uranium and thorium in monazite sand samples.     

Liquid-liquid extraction of Th4+ and UO 2 2+ by LIX-26 and its mixtures

Solvent extractions of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) by a commercially available chelating extractant LIX-26 (an alkylated 8-hydroxyquinoline) or 8-hydroxyquinoline, benzoic or salicylic acid, dipentyl sulphoxide (DPSO) and their mixtures with butanol as modifier in benzene/methylisobutyl ketone (MIBK) as the diluent have been studied. Extraction of uranium(VI) by 10% LIX-26 and 10% butanol in benzene becomes quantitative at pH 5.0. The pH 0.5 values for the extraction of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) are 4.95 and 3.35, respectively. Quantitative extraction of thorium(IV) by the mixture of 0.1 M oxine and 0.1 M salicylic acid in methylisobutyl ketone was observed at pH 5.0. The influence of concentration of various anions on the extraction of Th⁴⁺ by mixtures of LIX-26 and benzoic acid has been studied. Studies on extraction of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) by mixtures of LIX-26 (HQ) and DPSO show that the extracted species are possibly of the type [ThQ₂/DPSO/₂/SCN/₂] and [UO₂Q₂/DPSO/], respectively.     

Determination of Uranium and Thorium Isotope Ratios by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Measurement conditions were selected and a procedure was proposed for determining the ²³⁴U/²³⁸U and ²³⁰Th/²³²Th isotope ratios using an ELEMENT single-channel double-focusing inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The procedure was tested in analyzing bottom sediments from Lake Baikal with the extraction preconcentration of uranium and thorium. The accuracy of the procedure was verified using certified reference materials and a model solution by comparing the results obtained with the data of spectrometry.     

Preparation of234Th(UX1) by extraction of238U. determination of thorium with arsenazo-III

Summary Radiochemical procedures have been worked out to prepare²³⁴Th(UX₁) with and without carrier from uranium using N-oxide of 4-(5-nonyl)pyridine in sulphuric acid media. This reagent has also been employed in the development of a combined solvent extraction-ion exchange-spectrophotometric method for the determination of thorium in various samples.

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Zusammenfassung Radiochemische Methoden zur Herstellung von²³⁴Th(UX₁) aus Uran mit und ohne Träger und unter Verwendung von 4-(5-Nonyl)pyridin-N-oxid in schwefelsaurer Lösung wurden ausgearbeitet. Dieses Reagens wurde auch für die Ausarbeitung einer Thoriumbestimmung in verschiedenartigen Proben auf der Grundlage von Extraktion, Ionenaustausch und Spektro-photometrie verwendet.

     

Estimation of 90Sr in reprocessed uranium oxide samples

Summary A method has been developed for the estimation of ⁹⁰Sr in reprocessed uranium oxide samples obtained from the Purex processing of natural uranium spent fuel discharged from the research reactor. The method employs a combination of precipitation and solvent extraction procedure to eliminate other beta-impurities prior to resorting to the estimation of ⁹⁰Sr by beta-counting. ¹⁰⁶Ru was eliminated by volatalizing with perchloric acid, uranium was removed by carrier precipitation with strontium as sulphate. The sulphate precipitate was converted to carbonate and dissolved in nitric acid. ²³⁴Th and ²³⁴Pa were eliminated by synergistic solvent extraction using tri-n-butyl phosphate and thenoyl trifluoroacetone extractant mixture in xylene. An iron scavenging step was included to remove any residual impurities. Finally, strontium is precipitated as SrC₂O₄^. H₂O. The separated ⁹⁰Sr activity was followed to check the equilibrium growth of ⁹⁰Y.     

Measurements of238U,234U and230Th in impure carbonates for age determination

The carbonate cements of conglomeritic deposits of late Pleistocene age have been leached with 0.2N hydrochloric acid and analyzed radiochemically. The leachate and the residue fractions were separately measured for²³⁸U,²³⁴U and²³⁰Th, using isotope-dilution and alpha-spectrometric techniques. The data are used to estimate the isotopic activities of uranium and thorium in the carbonate phase. These activities give age information for the carbonate cementation. Ages in the range of 185–320·10³ years were obtained for the samples studied.     

Determination of uranium and thorium in complex samples using chromatographic separation, ICP-MS and spectrophotometric detection

The paper describes a research of possible application of UTEVA and TRU resins and anion exchanger AMBERLITE CG-400 in nitrate form for the isolation of uranium and thorium from natural samples. The results of determination of distribution coefficient have shown that uranium and thorium bind on TRU and UTEVA resins from the solutions of nitric and hydrochloric acids, and binding strength increases proportionally to increase the concentration of acids. Uranium and thorium bind rather strongly to TRU resin from the nitric acid in concentration ranging from 0.5 to 5 mol L⁻¹, while large quantities of other ions present in the sample do not influence on the binding strength. Due to the difference in binding strength in HCl and HNO₃ respectively, uranium and thorium can be easily separated from each other on the columns filled with TRU resin. Furthermore, thorium binds to anion exchanger in nitrate form from alcohol solutions of nitric acid very strongly, while uranium does not, so they can be easily separated. Based on these results, we have created the procedures of preconcentration and separation of uranium and thorium from the soil, drinking water and seawater samples by using TRU and UTEVA resins and strong base anion exchangers in nitrate form. In one of the procedures, uranium and thorium bind directly from the samples of drinking water and seawater on the column filled with TRU resin from 0.5 mol L⁻¹ HNO₃ in a water sample. After binding, thorium is separated from uranium with 0.5 mol L⁻¹ HCl, and uranium is eluted with deionised water. By applying the described procedure, it is possible to achieve the concentration factor of over 1000 for the column filled with 1 g of resin and splashed with 2 L of the sample. Spectrophotometric determination with Arsenazo III, with this concentration factor results in detection limits below 1 μg L⁻¹ for uranium and thorium. In the second procedure, uranium and thorium are isolated from the soil samples with TRU resin, while they are separated from each other on the column filled with anion exchanger in alcohol solutions. Anion exchanger combined with alcohol solutions enables isolation of thorium from soil samples and its separation from a wide range of elements, as well as spectrophotometric determination, ICP-MS determination, and other determination techniques.