A one-step process to separate cesium and strontium from caustic waste could possibly lead to significant savings in processing, transportation and storage of some 34 million gallons of nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site. Laetitia Delmau of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Chemical Sciences Division is developing a process concept that involves adding crown ether and carboxylic acid to the solvent used in the caustic-side solvent extraction (CSSX) process. The CSSX process was developed at ORNL to remove cesium from alkaline nitrate waste and will be used at the Savannah River Site to reduce the volume of high-level waste. This waste was generated over the last 50-plus years in the production of materials for the U.S. nuclear weapons program. If Delmau's new approach proves feasible it would extend the CSSX capabilities by enabling the process to remove cesium and strontium in one step. This could possibly lead to additional cost savings and waste volume reduction. Ultimately, researchers hope to develop a process to extract uranium, neptunium and plutonium as well. The project is funded by the DOE Environmental Management Science Program.
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