SEPARATION OF URANIUM FROM RARE EARTHS AND SOME OTHER ELEMENTS BY SOLVENT EXTRACTION WITH TRI-BUTYL PHOSPHATE

The subject of the present investigation was the use of 20% TBP in kerosene as an extracting agent for the separation of uranium from rare earths and other elements, from 2 N nitric acid solution. The dependence of the distribution coefficients of uranium, rare earths and other elements on their respective concentrations in solution was investigated, as also the influence of the concentration of TBP in kerosene on the distribution coefficient of uranium. For the investigations with rare earths, radioactive isotopes of Ce¹⁴⁴ and Eu¹⁵² were employed.