Capture and Retrieval of Plutonium Oxide Particles at Ultra-Low Concentrations Using High-Gradient Magnetic Separation

Abstract

A high-gradient magnetic separation system has been developed for capture and retrieval of ultra-low plutonium oxide concentrations. The application of advanced matrix materials and improved methodology has demonstrated the effective collection and recovery of submicron paramagnetic actinide particles with particle concentrations as low as 10 223 M. Incorporation of multiple passes during recovery of magnetically captured particles improves the system mass balance. Activity balances for plutonium Downloaded by [Queensland University of Technology] at 14:15 13 October 2014were verified with stringent sampling protocols. Collection and recovery values demonstrate that 99% of the submicron plutonium oxide particles can be accounted for when recycle loops are incorporated into capture and recovery circuits, magnetically captured particles are released by sonication, carrier fluids are organically based, and longer matrix lengths are utilized.

Water purification using magnetic assistance: A review

“…Direct plutonium colloid capture was carried out using specially designed steel wires as magnetic filtration bed material. The use of nickel dendrites grown on SS wires enabled reduction in background field requirement from 7 to 2 T for the capture of particles [91,92]. Table 3 gives a list of volume susceptibilities of typical components of radioactive wastes.…”