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Criticality Safety Strategy for the Fuel Cycle Facility Electrorefiner at Argonne National Laboratory, West

Conference · · Nuclear Technology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35251· OSTI ID:10182999
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Idaho Falls, UD (United States)
  2. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
The Integral Fast Reactor being developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) combines the advantages of metal-fueled, liquid-metal-cooled reactors and a closed fuel cycle. Presently, the Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF) at ANL-West in Idaho Falls, Idaho is being modified to recycle spent metallic fuel from Experimental Breeder Reactor II as part of a demonstration project sponsored by the Department of Energy. A key component of the FCF is the electrorefiner (ER) in which the actinides are separated from the fission products. In the electrorefining process, the metal fuel is anodically dissolved into a high-temperature molten salt and refined uranium, or uranium/plutonium products are deposited at cathodes. In this report, the criticality safety strategy for the FCF ER is summarized. FCF ER operations and processes formed the basis for evaluating criticality safety and control during actinide metal fuel refining. In order to show criticality safety for the FCF ER, the reference operating conditions for the ER had to be defined. Normal operating envelopes (NOES) were then defined to bracket the important operating conditions. To keep the operating conditions within their NOES, process controls were identified that can be used to regulate the actinide forms and content within the ER. A series of operational checks were developed for each operation that wig verify the extent or success of an operation. The criticality analysis considered the ER operating conditions at their NOE values as the point of departure for credible and incredible failure modes. As a result of the analysis, FCF ER operations were found to be safe with respect to criticality.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Idaho Falls, UD (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
10182999
Report Number(s):
ANL/FC/CP--78117; CONF-930913--36; ON: DE93040245
Conference Information:
Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 2 Journal Volume: 114
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (2)

Chemical basis for pyrochemical reprocessing of nuclear fuel journal January 1991
Phase Equilibria in the Binary Systems PuCl 2 –NaCl and PuCl 2 –LiCl journal October 1959

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Related Subjects

050800
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210500
96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION
ACTINIDES
ANL
ANODES
CATHODES
CRITICALITY
Criticality Analysis
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
ELECTROREFINING
Electrorefiner (ER)
FAILURES
FUEL CYCLE
Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF)
IFR REACTOR
INVENTORIES
Integral Fast Reactor
Normal operating envelopes (NOES)
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Operational Checks
POWER REACTORS
BREEDING
PROCESS CONTROL
Process Controls
RECYCLING
SAFETY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPENT FUELS
SPENT FUELS REPROCESSING