OPTIMASI PEMISAHAN SESIUM DI DALAM PELAT ELEMEN BAKAR TIPE U3Si2/Al PASCA IRADIASI MENGGUNAKAN METODE PENGENDAPAN KLOROPLATINAT

Abstract

Several methods for separating fission product ¹³⁷Cs from uranium isotopes (²³⁸U, ²³⁵U, ²³⁶U, and ²³⁴U) in U₃Si₂/Al fuel have been widely developed. Optimization and separation were performed using the chloroplatinate precipitation to establish a new cesium (Cs) separation method. The method developed in this research offers the potential to achieve higher-purity cesium precipitates. This study aims to develop a method of separating the ¹³⁷Cs isotope from U₃Si₂/Al fuel element plates (PEB) using chloroplatinate reagents. The procedure involves dissolving the pre-irradiation U₃Si₂/Al PEB and adding several elements such as Sm, Sr, Cs, and Nd to represent the composition of pre-irradiation PEB, simulating its original condition. The cesium precipitation process in the supernatant solution was carried out by adding HCl and NaOH to separate impurities from cesium. The precipitation was conducted by adding H₂PtCl₆ to precipitate and isolate cesium from other elements. The precipitation process was optimized by varying the temperature and precipitation time. The optimum precipitation conditions were achieved at a temperature of -3°C and a time of 10 minutes, resulting in a Cs2PtCl6 precipitate weighing 0.3361 g. XRD and SEM analyses were used to complement and verify the cesium separation results using the chloroplatinate precipitation method, showing a uniform distribution of all elements. The purity of the Cs₂PtCl₆ precipitate obtained was 100%, with a diffractogram pattern identical to the reference.