According to one aspect of the invention, a system to separate salt from uranium. The system has a vessel, a heater, a pump, and a condenser. The vessel is adapted to receive a uranium that has a salt concentration. The heater heats the uranium for a period of time, causing the salt to turn into a salt vapor and the uranium to melt. The melted uranium releases the salt vapor. The pump circulates an inert gas that carries the salt vapor away from the melted uranium. The condenser is adapted to receive the salt vapor.

A useful metal may be recovered from a solution of a nitrate salt of a metal cation or a metal oxycation, by adding the solution of the nitrate salt to a formation column having an inlet and an outlet nozzle, the solution of the nitrate salt being added in a dropwise fashion through the inlet. The formation column contains a recirculating solution containing a base selected from the group consisting of ammonia, ammonium hydroxide, an alkali metal hydroxide, and an alkaline earth metal hydroxide. The nitrate salt reacts with the base in the recirculating solution to produce a metal oxide salt or a metal hydroxide salt as a precipitate. The precipitate and the recirculating solution exit the formation column through the outlet nozzle and are captured the precipitate in a basket beneath the formation column while recovering the recirculating solution in a catch tank under the basket. The recovered recirculating solution is pumped from the catch tank to the formation column. The nitrate salt of the metal cation may be a nitrate salt of a radioactive metal cation, e.g., uranium or a uranyl cation.

According to one aspect of the invention, a system to separate salt from uranium. The system has a vessel, a heater, a pump, and a condenser. The vessel is adapted to receive a uranium that has a salt concentration. The heater heats the uranium for a period of time, causing the salt to turn into a salt vapor and the uranium to melt. The melted uranium releases the salt vapor. The pump circulates an inert gas that carries the salt vapor away from the melted uranium. The condenser is adapted to receive the salt vapor.