Glutarimidedioxime: A Complexing and Reducing Reagent for Plutonium Recovery from Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

Efficient separation processes for recovering uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel are essential to the development of advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The performance characteristics of a new salt-free complexing and reducing reagent, glutarimidedioxime (H2A), are reported for recovering plutonium in a PUREX process. With a phase ratio of organic to aqueous of up to 10:1, plutonium can be effectively stripped from 30% tributyl phosphate (TBP) in kerosene into 1 M HNO3 with H2A. The complexation-reduction mechanism is illustrated with the combination of UV/Vis absorption spectra and the crystal structure of a Pu(IV) complex with the reagent. The fast stripping rate and the high efficiency for stripping Pu(IV), through the complexation-reduction mechanism, is suitable for use in centrifugal contactors with very short contact/resident times, thereby offering significant advantages over conventional processes.