THE STUDIES ON NOVEL EXTRACTANTS IN REPROCESSING OF SPENT THORIUM-URANIUM FUEL I . SULFOXIDES AND THEIR STRUCTURE AND EXTRACTING ABILITY

The solubility of five kinds of sulfoxides in diluents (such as kerosene and aromatic hydrocarbon diluents)and their extracting ability for thorium and uranium from nitric acid solution are presented. The results show that two dialkyl sulfoxide with branch chain, such as di (2-ethylhexyl) sulfoxide (DEHSO)and di(1-methylheptyl)sulfoxide(DMHpSO) ,are not only completely miscible with kerosene, but also superior to tri-n-butyl-phosphate(TBP)in some abilities. The relations between the structure of the sulfoxides and their extracting ability are briefly discussed.