Summary: A method for the separation of cesium from macro quantities of sodium and potassium using an ion exchange resin, Dowex 50, has been developed. A 95% recovery of cesium with a reduction of the solid content of 95% was found possible. Curves illustrating the effect of acidity, column length, and flow rate are presented in the report. The sodium form, hydrogen form and ammonium form of Dowex 50 were investigated; the hydrogen form was found to give the best separation.

The recent interest in tributyl phosphate as an extracting solvent for uranium indicated that consideration of n-butyl phosphoric acid for this application might be of interest if some way could be devised to overcome the manipulation and miscibility difficulties. It was found that if the material was placed in any one of a number of carrier solvents, it had a remarkably strong extractive effect on uranyl ion out of acid solutions without a salting agent present.