In each test, the phase separation was rapid and clearly defined;there was no evidence of the formation of solids. Exposures at a level of 0.3 whr liter-1 cycle-1 had no detectable effect on the solvent performance. At the higher expo¬sures, there was slight retention of uranium by the stripped solvent and an increase in the ability of the solvent to extract zirconium. The zirconium extraction coefficients for solvents irradiated at 1 and 2 whr liter-1 cycle-1 were about two and three times, respec¬tively, those obtained with unirradiated solvent. How¬ever, the coefficients did not increase with cycling, indicating that the degradation products formed during the irradiation were removed effectively from the solvent by the sodium carbonate wash.nAssessment of these results in terms of the solvent exposures that are expected during the processing of 30-day-cooled LMFBR fuels in pulsed columns indicates that process problems arising from irradiation of the solvent will be minimal.
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