Technology needs for actinide and technetium separations based on solvent extraction, ion exchange, and other processes

Several examples of research and development activities in actinide and technetium separations are presented. These examples indicate that separation science and technology is a very active area with many opportunities for significant advances. Although the discussion concerns separations applied to materials and wastes from nuclear materials processing operations, the development of separation technology for nuclear materials is closely linked to industrial separations in general. Nuclear materials processing operations, like industrial processes in general, must move toward better total life cycle design in which all inputs and outputs of an industrial activity are considered and optimized to balance environmental costs and societal benefits. Separations technology will play an important part in achieving this goal.