ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Front-end nuclear fuel supply cooperation: Turning allied interdependence into strategic advantage
The global nuclear revival, which is fueled by unprecedented demand for firm, affordable, dispatchable power for artificial intelligence and data center build-out, energy security imperatives, and climate commitments, has exposed a structural reality of the Western fuel cycle: No single allied nation currently possesses the full suite of front-end capabilities. From mining through conversion, enrichment, fabrication, and the emerging deconversion and metallization steps required for reactor fuels, capability is distributed across Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States (collectively, the “Sapporo Five”), as well as a small group of close partners.
L. M. Slater
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 17 | Number 4 | December 1963 | Pages 576-585
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE63-A18450
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Cesium (<5 × 10-3M) can be extracted from aqueous sodium iodide solutions into equal volumes of 0.2M I2 in nitrobenzene at 25°C with extraction coefficients as great as two thousand. Cesium may be back-extracted by equilibration with ∼4M or stronger nitric acid. The separation factor of cesium (∼10-7M) from sodium in extractions made from sodium iodide solutions into equal volumes of 0.2M I2 in nitrobenzene at 25°C remained fairly constant at ∼1500 up to ∼1M NaI. It decreased to ∼100 at 8M NaI. At this point the cesium extraction coefficient was still greater than two. The decrease in the separation factor is seen as largely due to the decrease in the ratio of the activity coefficient of the cesium ion to that of the sodium ion in the aqueous phase. Extraction data for sodium and cesium from various solutions and under a variety of conditions are given. Sodium and cesium ions are seen extracted as ion association compounds with triiodide ions. Polyiodide ions as complex as the enneaiodide are formed subsequently in the organic phase. Sodium and cesium polyiodides are thought to be essentially ionized in nitrobenzene. Extractions are believed to be the result of the “squeezing out” from aqueous solution into nitrobenzene of ion pairs of cations of small ionic potential together with large anions that are compatible with the organic solvent. The driving force behind the extractions comes largely from the reformation of the hydrogen bonded water structure in the relatively large cavities left by the extracted ion pairs.