Development of Alternate Extractants for Separation of Actinides

Selection of an extractant plays a key role in the development of a commercial solvent extraction process. Though tri- n-butyl phosphate (TBP) is currently used as the extractant for the processing of fast reactor fuel, there is a need to introduce an alternate extractant to ensure the success of closing the fast reactor fuel cycle in India. Recent studies undertaken in our laboratory for the identification of the most suitable extractant for fast reactor fuel reprocessing are addressed in this paper. Studies carried out on the influence of alkoxy groups of dialkylalkyl phosphonates on the extraction behaviour of uranium and thorium is also discussed.