Management of salt waste from electrochemical processing of used nuclear fuel

Conference · Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013

OSTI ID:22264150

Simpson, M. F.; Patterson, M. N. ^[1]; Lee, J.; Wang, Y. ^[2]; Versey, J.; Phongikaroon, S. ^[3]

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1. Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 (United States)
2. Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
3. University of Idaho, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Electrochemical processing of used nuclear fuel involves operation of one or more cells containing molten salt electrolyte. Processing of the fuel results in contamination of the salt via accumulation of fission products and transuranic (TRU) actinides. Upon reaching contamination limits, the salt must be removed and either disposed or treated to remove the contaminants and recycled back to the process. During development of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II spent fuel treatment process, waste salt from the electro-refiner was to be stabilized in a ceramic waste form and disposed of in a high-level waste repository. With the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository, other options are now being considered. One approach that involves direct disposal of the salt in a geologic salt formation has been evaluated. While waste forms such as the ceramic provide near-term resistance to corrosion, they may not be necessary to ensure adequate performance of the repository. To improve the feasibility of direct disposal, recycling a substantial fraction of the useful salt back to the process equipment could minimize the volume of the waste. Experiments have been run in which a cold finger is used for this purpose to crystallize LiCl from LiCl/CsCl. If it is found to be unsuitable for transportation, the salt waste could also be immobilized in zeolite without conversion to the ceramic waste form. (authors)

• Research Organization: American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22264150
• Resource Relation: Conference: GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads, Salt Lake City, UT (United States), 29 Sep - 3 Oct 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 12 refs.; Related Information: In: Proceedings of GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads| 1633 p.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACTINIDES
BREEDER REACTORS
CERAMICS
CESIUM CHLORIDES
CONTAMINATION
CORROSION
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
FISSION PRODUCTS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LITHIUM CHLORIDES
MOLTEN SALTS
PROCESSING
SPENT FUELS
WASTE FORMS
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
ZEOLITES