Influence of hydrofluoric acid on extraction of thorium using a commercially available extraction chromatographic resin

The dependence of Th recovery on hydrofluoric acid (HF) concentration in nitric acid (HNO3) solutions (1–5 mol/dm3) containing 1 × 10−6 mol/dm3 of Th and various concentrations of HF and the elution behavior were studied using a commercially available UTEVA (for uranium and tetravalent actinide) resin column. Thorium recovery decreased with an increase in HF concentration in the sample solutions. The concentration of HF at which Th recovery started to decrease was ∼1 × 10−4 mol/dm3 in 1 mol/dm3 HNO3 solution, ∼1 × 10−3 mol/dm3 in 3 mol/dm3 HNO3 solution, and ∼1 × 10−2 mol/dm3 in 5 mol/dm3 HNO3 solution. When Al(NO3)3 (0.2 mol/dm3) or Fe(NO3)3 (0.6 mol/dm3) was added as a masking agent for F− to the Th solution containing 1 × 10−1 mol/dm3 HF and 1 mol/dm3 HNO3, Th recovery improved from 1.4 ± 0.3% to 95 ± 5% or 93 ± 3%. Effective extraction of Th using UTEVA resin was achieved by selecting the concentration of HNO3 and/or adding masking agents such as Al(NO3)3 according to the concentration of HF in the sample solution.