Uranium(vi) and thorium(iv) reclamation was studied using nano iron oxide impregnated cellulose acetate beads to gain insights of the adsorption mechanism, kinetics and thermodynamics. the designed experiments were thoroughly investigated as a function of solution ph, initial uranium(vi) and thorium(iv) ion concentration, adsorbent dose and nano iron oxide loading in the cellulose acetate matrix. the batch adsorption of uranium(vi) and thorium(iv) ions revealed the highly ph dependent (ph range, 3.0–9.0) behavior with maximum sorption at ph 6.0 and equilibrium being achieved within 2 hr for maximum concentration of 100 mg/l at 298 k. rapid adsorption of 50+/- 0.2% was observed within first 10 min. the kinetics data is best described by the pseudo first-order kinetic model (r2 = 0.9996) and intraparticle diffusion model. the equilibrium adsorption process was fitted with the langmuir, freundlich, dubinin-radushkevich and temkin models which yield good fit with langmuir isotherm equation indicating monolayer adsorption process. the calculated thermodynamics parameter reveals spontaneous and exothermic adsorption process. further the desorption was uranium(vi) and thorium(iv) ions was easily achieved using 0.05 n hno3 which suggests the reusability of the adsorbent for multiple use.