The Separation of Plutonium from Platinumnby Coprecipitation with Ferric Iron Followed bynIon Exchange on Inorganic Exchange Materials

摘要

A method is described for the separation of trace amounts of Plutonium from macro amounts of platinum.nPlatinum solutions, prepared from the metal contaminated with Plutonium, are subjected to several scavengings with ferric ion. The resulting precipitates of hydrous ferric oxides are filtered and the final filtrate treated with hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid to reduce the plutonium to a form which will be retained by the ion exchange medium. Subsequent treatment by passage through a column of either ammonium molybdophosphate or zirconium phosphate serves to remove any residual plutonium remaining after coprecipita-tion with ferric ion.nThe method is rapid and efficient, giving high decontamination factors under the conditions studied.