Extraction and Separation Study of Am and Cm by Cyanex 301 Extractant

Extraction and separation of actinides Am and Cm by Cyanex 301 as extractant have been studied.Separation factor of Am from Cm is about 3.The influence of some factors such as pH value,ion strength,concentration of HBTMPDTP and temperature is slight.The separation of Am from Cm is studied by counter-current cascade experiments(8 stages for extraction and 3 stages for scrubbing) and the results show that extraction efficiency of Am is 98.67%,radiochemical purity of Am is(92.22)%.Unextraction efficiency of Cm is 86.97%,radiochemical purity of!Cm is 99.69%.The experimental values are in good agreement with the calculated values.According to the calculation(9 stages for extraction and 4 stages for scrubbing),the calculation values are follows: extraction efficiency of Am is 99.92%,radiochemical purity of Am is 95.99%.Unextraction efficiency of Cm is(94.90%),radiochemical purity of Cm is 99.90%.The separation factor is 20 for Am in Cm and 1 186 for Cm in Am.