Letter Report: UREX Flowsheet for Cleanup of a Spent 130 g-U/L Uranyl Sulfate SHINE Target Solution
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
On July 6, 2011, Argonne sent two UREX flowsheets to Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR) for processing a 150 and 300 g-U/L solution of uranyl nitrate. Argonne was tasked by the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) in Fiscal Year 2012 (FY-12) to develop a method to clean up a spent SHINE target solution prepared with uranyl sulfate. This process is described above. Discussions between Argonne and SHINE led to us look at a solution of 130 g-U/L solution of uranyl sulfate in sulfuric acid at pH 1. Briefly described below is the UREX flowsheet that was designed using the Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction (AMUSE) for recovering pure uranium from that solution after it has been converted to nitrate media. The barium precipitation of sulfate is so effective that the number of stages developed for treating this solution is exactly the same as for the two earlier flowsheets. The only parameter that needed to be changed is the organic-to-aqueous (O/A) flow ratio in the extraction section. This ratio is maintained to provide a maximum loading of the tributyl phosphate (TBP) in the solvent to a range of 70–72%. This ratio should be kept high enough to minimize the extraction of other species into the solvent (to assure maximum decontamination of the uranium product), but low enough so that the organic phase will not divide into a light and heavy phase (third-phase formation) that would cause significant hydraulic problems for the contactor. As it was initially designed, an important feature of this flowsheet is the ease developing a new flowsheet if the concentration of uranium is modified. This means that the contactor in the hot cell can be permanently plumbed into four sections, with the requisite number of stages in each section. The only variable to be changed if the uranium concentration is modified is the flow rate of feed solutions.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1131393
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/CSE--13/10
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
Similar Records
Final FY-12 Progress Report on the Cleanup of Irradiated 130 g-U/L Uranyl Sulfate SHINE Target Solutions
FY 2013 Progress Report on the Cleanup of Irradiated 130 g-U/L Uranyl Sulfate SHINE Target Solutions (Final Report)