Provided is a process for recovering uranium comprising (a) bringing a solution (I) into contact with a resin (I) to produce a mixture of a solution (II) and a resin (II), wherein the solution (I) is an aqueous solution that comprises 30 to 200 g/L sulfuric acid and that comprises 1 g/L to 50 g/L uranium, and wherein the resin (I) is a strong acid cation exchange resin, and (b) separating the solution (II) from the resin (II).

A process and system is provided for recovery of one or more metal values using solution extraction techniques and for metal value recovery. In an exemplary embodiment, the solution extraction system comprises a first solution extraction circuit and a second solution extraction circuit. A first metal-bearing solution is provided to the first and second circuit, and a second metal-bearing solution is provided to the first circuit. The first circuit produces a first rich electrolyte solution, which can be forwarded to primary metal value recovery, and a low-grade raffinate, which is forwarded to secondary metal value recovery. The second circuit produces a second rich electrolyte solution, which is also forwarded to primary metal value recovery. The first and second solution extraction circuits have independent organic phases and each circuit can operate independently of the other circuit.

Provided is a method for easily and inexpensively separating a rare earth element contained in an aqueous solution.

Disclosed are novel polymers that contain monomer units derived from 4-vinylpyridine and monomer units derived from a co-monomer. The polymers may be complexed with a metal, and linear or crosslinked. Also disclosed are methods for preparing these polymers by radical polymerization, as well as to their use for metal capture in aqueous media, particularly uranium capture in seawater or in final nuclear waste from nuclear power plants.

The present invention relates to a method for removing radioactive element thorium in a rare earth mineral, comprising: mixing the rare earth mineral with selenium dioxide in water, reacting radioactive element thorium with selenium dioxide by hydrothermal method, cooling to form a crystal, and separating the crystal to remove the radioactive element thorium. In the invention, tetravalent element thorium is selectively bound to inorganic ligand selenium dioxide in a hydrothermal environment to form a crystal, thereby achieving removal of radioactive element thorium. The method has high crystallization rate and high decontamination efficiency, and removes thorium from trivalent lanthanide element by crystallization solidification under a uniform reaction condition. Compared to a conventional industrial method for thorium separation, the method has low energy consumption and high separation ratio, enables one-step solidification separation, and effectively avoids the disadvantages of redundant separation operations and a large amount of organic and radioactive liquid wastes.

The invention provides a method for isolating medical isotopes, the method having the steps of dissolving titanium nuclear targets to create a solution; contacting the solution with a resin so as to retain the isotopes on the resin and generate an eluent containing titanium; contacting the isotope-containing resin with acid of a first concentration to remove impurities from the resin; and contacting the isotope-containing resin with an acid of a second concentration to remove isotope from the resin.

A method includes contacting a coal feedstock with an acidic solution to form residual coal and a leachate. The method further includes separating the residual coal from the leachate where the leachate contains rare earth elements and where the residual coal has preserved organic content and reduced inorganic content. Another method includes contacting a coal feedstock with a basic solution to form residual coal and a leachate. The method further includes separating the residual coal from the leachate where the leachate contains rare earth elements.

A volume reduction treatment method able to reduce the volume of the final disposal waste of a spent uranium catalyst. As a result, the disposal cost of the spent uranium catalyst is able to be reduced and the utilization of waste repositories are able to be improved.

A process is provided for recovering uranium comprising (A) bringing a solution (A) into contact with a resin (A) to produce a mixture of solution (B) and resin (B), wherein the solution (A) is an aqueous solution comprising dissolved sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, or a mixture thereof, and wherein the resin (A) is a strong acid cation exchange resin that comprises one or more cationic moiety that comprises uranium and one or more cationic moiety that comprises iron, and (B) separating the solution (B) from the resin (B).

The present invention is directed to a method for the separation of an actinide from another metal. The method comprises the following steps: (a) establishing a non-homogeneous magnetic field across a separation column containing a paramagnetic packing material and (b) providing a fluid containing the actinide and the another metal to the separation column wherein the fluid and the paramagnetic packing material are exposed to the non-homogeneous magnetic field. The non-homogeneous magnetic field is produced by a magnet having a first pole for magnetic interaction with a second pole of the magnet wherein the first pole has a different surface area than the second pole. The non-homogeneous magnetic field has a magnetic field gradient of about 500 lines/cm.sup.2/cm or more. In addition, the present invention is also directed to a method for the separation of one heavy metal from another heavy metal.