Solvent Extraction and Supercritical Processing for Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Management
This community focuses on the chemical separation of actinides and lanthanides from spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, utilizing solvent extraction, ionic liquids, and supercritical carbon dioxide systems to manage the nuclear fuel cycle.
The research centers on the selective separation of trivalent actinides and lanthanides, such as americium and europium, from complex acidic solutions. Key methods include solvent extraction using tributyl phosphate and organophosphorus ligands, as well as the application of ionic liquids and supercritical carbon dioxide for dissolution and extraction. The work addresses the processing of spent nuclear fuel and the management of high-level radioactive waste, with specific attention to the zirconium/hafnium separation and the development of novel extractants for efficient partitioning.
The community is most significant in the research tracked for americium, representing 13.1% of all americium research, and 3.9% of plutonium research. It also constitutes 1.8% of uranium research.
The community comprises 11,930 papers, primarily published in the Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, and Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology.
Recent work includes the development of machine-learning-guided ligand optimization for americium/europium separation, the use of oxidative eutectic mixtures for environmental decontamination, and the investigation of solubility parameters in supercritical carbon dioxide systems.