Recovery of boric acid from nuclear waste

Abstract

Disclosed is a process for separating and recovering boric acid from water containing solids which include boric acid and radionuclides. In the first step, the water is separated from the solids by evaporation of the water at a temperature under 130.degree. F. In the second step, an alcohol selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, and mixtures thereof is added to the remaining solids in the amount of at least 1.4 times that stoichiometrically required to react with the boric acid to form boron alkoxide and water to about 100 mole % in excess of stoichiometric. In the third step, the boron alkoxide is separated from the remaining solids by evaporation of the boron alkoxide. In the fourth step, water is added to the volatilized boron alkoxide to form boric acid and an alcohol. And finally, the alcohol is separated from the boric acid by evaporating the alcohol.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.