Uranium transport to solid electrodes in pyrochemical reprocessing of nuclear fuel

Journal Article · Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2069109· OSTI ID:6877020

Tomczuk, Z; Ackerman, J P; Wolson, R D; Miller, W E ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Chemical Technology Div.

A unique pyrochemical process developed for the separation of metallic nuclear fuel from fission products by electrotransport through molten LiCl-KCl eutectic salt to solid and liquid metal cathodes. The process allow for recovery and reuse of essentially all of the actinides in spent fuel from the integral fast reactor (IFR) and disposal of wastes in satisfactory forms. Electrotransport is used to minimize reagent consumption and, consequently, waste volume. In particular, electrotransport to solid cathodes is used for recovery of an essentially pure uranium product in the presence of other actinides; removal of pure uranium is used to adjust the electrolyte composition in preparation for recovery of a plutonium-rich mixture with uranium in liquid cadmium cathodes. This paper presents experiments that delineate the behavior of key actinide and rare-earth elements during electrotransport to a solid electrode over a useful range of PuCl[sub 3]/UCl[sub 3] ratios in the electrolyte, a thermodynamic basis for that behavior, and a comparison of the observed behavior with that calculated from a thermodynamic model. This work clearly established that recovery of nearly pure uranium can be a key step in the overall pyrochemical-fuel-processing strategy for the IFR.

• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6877020
• Journal Information: Journal of the Electrochemical Society; (United States), Vol. 139:12; ISSN 0013-4651
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
ACTINIDES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
FAST REACTORS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
SPENT FUELS
NUCLEAR FUELS
PYROCHEMICAL REPROCESSING
URANIUM
DIFFUSION
ELECTRODES
FISSION PRODUCTS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FUELS
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
050800* - Nuclear Fuels- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
052001 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing
052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
400105 - Separation Procedures