Fundamental Chemistry, Characterization, and Separation of Technetium Complexes in Hanford Waste

The ultimate goal of this project is to separate technetium from Hanford tank waste. Our prior work with Hanford Site tank waste indicates that the presence of complexants has produced unidentified, reduced technetium species not amenable to current separation technologies, or readily oxidized to pertechnetate. Consequently, we are synthesizing and characterizing some of the major classes of technetium complexes that may be formed under tank waste conditions. These complexes will be used as standards to characterize the nonpertechnetate species in actual wastes and to develop efficient oxidation or separation methods.