The Separation of Am from Lanthanides by Purified Cyanex 301 Extraction

Abstract Separation factors of tracer amounts of Am from micro lanthanides (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Sm) by purified Cyanex 301 extraction in nitrate media have been determined: SFAm/La ∼ 3500, SFAm/Ce,pr ∼ 1000, SFAm/Nd ∼ 1900, and SFAm/Sm∼ 4500, with an average value >2300. The distribution ratio decreases with increasing lanthanide concentration in the aqueous phase. In the presence of a macro amount of Pr + Nd (0.1 ∼ 0.6 M) the separation factors SFAm/Eu and SFAm/pr+Ndare about 4.7 × 103 and 2.1 × 103, respectively. The results of the countercurrent fractional process show that by using three extraction stages and two scrubbing stages, >99.99% Am can be separated from a tracer amount of Eu with 99.99% Am and <0.6% macro amount of Pr ± Nd are extracted into the organic phase.