ABSTRACT

Recovery of plutonium from spent nuclear fuels is very much indispensable in fast neutron reactor fuel reactor wherein, plutonium – 239 (²³⁹Pu) is used as the driving fuel. Separation of Pu(IV) from other metal ions present in the spent nuclear fuels by liquid–liquid extraction process is a difficult task in conventional solvent system. In this context, Ionic Liquids (ILs) could be considered as a suitable solvent/diluent in the separation of actinides and fission products due to their numerous fascinating properties, such as high solvating capability, high selectivity, and high radiation stability. Selective separation of a target metal ion from other metal ions is feasible in IL-based extraction by suitably designing their cation–anion combination to acquire the desired selectivity. The present review summarizes the work on Pu(IV) solvent extraction from nitric acid medium using ILs as the extraction phase and highlights suitability of IL-based solvents for the selective separation of Pu(IV) from other actinides and fission products. This review also emphasizes on remarkable separation factor (SF) for Pu(IV) from other metal ions. Details on extraction kinetics, extraction thermodynamics, and stripping profiles of Pu(IV) are also congregated and presented.

摘要

从乏核燃料中回收钚在快中子反应堆燃料反应堆中非常重要，其中，钚 - 239 ( ²³⁹Pu）用作驱动燃料。在常规溶剂系统中，通过液-液萃取工艺从乏核燃料中存在的其他金属离子中分离 Pu(IV) 是一项艰巨的任务。在这种情况下，离子液体 (IL) 可被视为分离锕系元素和裂变产物的合适溶剂/稀释剂，因为它们具有许多令人着迷的特性，例如高溶剂化能力、高选择性和高辐射稳定性。在基于离子液体的萃取中，通过适当设计阳离子-阴离子组合以获得所需的选择性，将目标金属离子与其他金属离子选择性分离是可行的。本综述总结了使用 ILs 作为萃取相从硝酸介质中萃取 Pu(IV) 的工作，并强调了基于 IL 的溶剂从其他锕系元素和裂变产物中选择性分离 Pu(IV) 的适用性。本综述还强调了 Pu(IV) 与其他金属离子的显着分离因子 (SF)。还汇总并介绍了 Pu(IV) 的萃取动力学、萃取热力学和剥离曲线的详细信息。