Overview of 30 Years Research on TRPO Process for Actinides Partitioning from High Level Liquid Waste

Safe treatment and disposal of radioactive waste, especially high level waste, are attracting much attention from governments of many countries and the public and becoming one of key factors affecting the sustainable development of nuclear energy. High level liquid waste (HLLW) is the raffinate from Purex process and contains more than 95% radioactivity of spent fuel. HLLW must be vitrified and disposed in the geological repository which should be isolated from biosphere for more than 100 000 years because of the a activity. "Partitioning-transmutation" method for the treatment of HLLW can effectively reduce the isolation period of geological repository from biosphere. TRPO with good physico-chemical properties and irradiation stability has excellent extraction selectivity to tri-, tetra- and hexa-valent actinides. TRPO process for actinides removal from HLLW has been invented in China. Several times hot tests and the pilot test demonstrated that the HLLW could be conditioned into non-a waste after treatment by TRPO process. TRPO with self-owned intellectual property rights has a bright future in the treatment of defense HLLW and civil HLLW.