The reduction of Np(VI) by acetohydroxamic acid in nitric acid solution

Abstract

Spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed commercially by the chemical process to recover U and Pu. Recently, new salt-free reagents to separate plutonium and neptunium from uranium suitable for use in a single cycle flowsheet have been developed. Acetohydroxamic acid (CH3CONHOH) has been taken much interest in as a complexing agent capable of selective stripping of tetravalent actinides from U(VI) when actinides are present in the solvent stream of the advanced PUREX process. Additionally acetohydroxamic acid will rapidly reduce Np(VI) to inextractable Np(V) thus allowing the separation of Np from U. In this study, the rate equation for the reduction of Np(VI) to Np(V) in nitric acid aqueous solution has been determined as: -[NpO22+]/dt = k[NpO22+][AHA] with k = 191.2 ± 11.2 M -1s-1 at 25 ± 0.5°C and [HNO3] = 1.0 M. Comparison with other reductants available in the literature, acetohydroxamic acid is a strong one for NpO22+.