Characterizing Diamylamylphosphonate (DAAP) as an Americium Ligand for Nuclear Fuel-Cycle Applications

Successful deployment of the currently-envisioned advanced nuclear fuel cycle requires the development of a partitioning scheme to separate Am from the lanthanides. The Am/lanthanide separation is challenging since all the metals are normally trivalent and have similar ionic radii. Oxidation of Am to higher oxidation states is one option to achieve such a separation. Hexavalent Am has now been routinely prepared in our laboratory in strongly acidic solution using sodium bismuthate as the oxidant, and then extracted into diamylamylphosphonate/dodecane solution. Here, we have characterized this phosphonate-containing solvent with regard to the extraction of Am, the lanthanides, Cm, other fission product, and/or inert constituents expected in dissolved nuclear fuel. Additionally, the effects of irradiation on dispersion numbers and the phosphonate concentration were investigated.