Removal of Cesium from Simulated Spent Fuel Dissolver Liquor

Abstract

With a resurgence of the nuclear industry’s fortunes, waste management will be an even greater consideration;
reducing wastes, better segregation and treatment that lower the impact on waste storage facilities and repositories,
in particular geological repositories will help the sustainability of the industry. We at the University of Central
Lancashire (UCLan) proposed in a previous publication a sequential chromatographic separation process, Alternative
Reprocessing Technology (ART) for Fission Products (FPs) and Minor Actinides (MAs) separation from spent
fuel dissolver liquor, as an improvement to/replacement for PUREX (Plutonium Uranium Redox Extraction). This
publication addresses the removal of one particular fission product, cesium, and its impact on waste management,
and down-stream PUREX operations. Although our proposed process is still in its infancy, its impact on the PUREX
process could be significant, with major gains in the separation circuit, waste management of High Level Waste
(HLW) and subsequently waste disposal to and design of a geological repository. This paper briefly describes; our
concept, some preliminary experimental data and why re-classification of the bulk of HLW (High Level Waste) to
Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) would be possible.