Electrochemical Salt Wasteform Development: A Review of Salt Treatment and Immobilization Options

Riley, Brian J.

doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.0c01357

Electrochemical Salt Wasteform Development: A Review of Salt Treatment and Immobilization Options

Journal Article · Thu May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.0c01357· OSTI ID:1638741

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Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Electrochemical reprocessing, also referred to as pyroprocessing, is a technique for recycling actinides from used nuclear fuel (UNF) to produce fuel for future reactors. Here, UNF is dissolved in a molten salt (e.g., LiCl-KCl eutectic) within an electrorefiner. After UNF dissolution, fission products are released into the electrolyte salt and converted to chlorides. This paper discusses wasteform options for processing the base electrolyte salt with the fission product salts as well as just the rare-earth fission products (as RECl₃, REOCl, or REO_x) with the intent of finding optimal methods for reducing total waste salt volumes or partitioning the salt for alternate wasteform options. Furthermore, two of the more detailed partitioning options discussed herein include halide removal from the salt (dehalogenation), which accounts for more than half of the salt on a molar basis, and RE fission product removal for wasteforms with high-RE loadings. Wasteform properties are compared with emphasis on wasteform volume starting from a given amount of (1) total salt cations or (2) RE cations. Comparisons are also made of wasteform chemical durabilities, with the data available from like testing methods. A main conclusion from this work is the justification of subsequent salt processing after electrorefiner operations for achieving significant wasteform volume reduction.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1638741

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA--151993

Journal Information:: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Journal Name: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research Journal Issue: 21 Vol. 59; ISSN 0888-5885

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Electrochemical Salt Wasteform Development: A Review of Salt Treatment and Immobilization Options

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