The chemical extraction of plutonium

from MOX fuel pellets

Use of cationic or anionic (positively- and negatively-charged) ion-exchange resins (10, 11, 12);

Ion-exchange resins
An ion-exchange method would be the simplest and could be used to separate plutonium of high purity with acceptable efficiency in a rapid, single-stage, single-batch process (12). Suitable resins are extensively used in industry for water softening, waste treatment and resource recovery.

They are available ‘off-the-shelf’ in tonne quantities with short delivery dates and several different types of resin are likely to prove suitable. These resins are highly suited to the recovery of plutonium from MOX fuel and are outlined in a confidential version of this report sent to the Department of Trade and Industry.



10. Guseva, L. I. and Tikhomirova, G. S. 1994, Simultaneous determination of natural and man-made actinides in environmental samples using ion exchange and mineral acid solutions, Radiochemistry 36, 55-61. 

11. Araujo, B. F., Matsuda, H. T., Carvalho, E. I., and Araujo, I. C. 1992, Plutonium removal by ion-exchange chromatography , J. Radioanalyt. and Nuc. Chem.-Letters 165; 209-218. 

12. Chen, Q. J., Aarkrog, A., Nielsen, S. P., Dahlgaard, H., Nies, H., Yu, Y. X., and Mandrup, K. J. 1993, Determination of plutonium in environmental samples by controlled valence in anion-exchange, J. Radioanalyt. & Nuc. Chem. - articles 172, 281-288. 

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