(528d) Characterization of the Next Generation Solvent Used to Remove Cesium at the Savannah River Site

A Next Generation Solvent (NGS) was developed through research funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) to improve cesium decontamination relative to the current Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Solvent (CSSX) (decontamination factor from 12 to greater than 40,000) with an increased performance of high-level waste processing in the Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) Unit (MCU) and the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at Savannah River Site (SRS) . The majority of NGS development was conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory while testing was conducted at the Savannah River National Laboratory and deployment at the MCU. The changes in solvent chemistry (and corresponding mass transfer and solvent recovery changes) require new analytical methods to track the solvent compositional changes and corresponding solvent extraction performance. This talk evaluates new analytical methods to characterize the solvent and a correlation is established between solvent extraction performance and the chemistry changes in the solvent.