Simultaneous extraction of noble metals and Cs from highly simulated radioactive borosilicate glass using liquid tin metal under reductive heat treatment

Abstract Simultaneous extraction of metallic Pd, Rh, Ru, Ag, Zn and nonmetallic Cs using liquid tin metal as the collecting metal from the highly simulated borosilicate glass containing high level radioactive waste was examined under reductive and oxidative heat treatment. High Sn recovery efficiency was obtained under reductive atmosphere compared to that under air. The noble metals were concentrated into Sn phase, meanwhile Cs was phase-separated on the contact surface of the glass phase. The highest extraction % of Pd, Ru, Rh, Ag and Zn in Sn aggregation were 94.5, 79.4, 95.6, 84.2, 100 and 54, respectively, from the highly simulated glass after reductive heat treatment. Cs on the glass surface was extracted by leaching with high extraction efficiency up to 80%. Liquid Sn extraction is evidenced to be effective for simultaneously extraction of the noble metals and other nonmetallic fission products from the highly simulated borosilicate glass.