Simultaneous removal of technetium and cesium by functionalized calixarenes from acidic liquid waste

In the framework of Actinex program, C.E.A. launched studies for the recovery of long lived nuclides from spent fuel dissolution acidic solutions in order to destroy them by transmutation or to encapsulate them in specific matrixes. Efforts were focused on Tc-99 and Cs-135 which are among the most harmful elements because of their long half live (2.1.10(5) and 2.3.10(6) years, respectively) and mobility. The aim of this work is to examine the possible coextraction of the pertechnetate with cesium by calix[4]arenes bis-crown-6 and then to separate it from cesium by using a second calixarene.