Actinide and rare earth drawdown system for molten salt recycle

Patent · Tue Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2023

OSTI ID:1987258

Willit, James L.; Tylka, Magdalena M.; Williamson, Mark A.; Wiedmeyer, Stanley G.; Figueroa, Javier

A method for recycling molten salt from electrorefining processes, the method having the steps of collecting actinide metal using a first plurality of cathodes from an electrolyte bath, collecting rare earths metal using a second plurality of cathodes from the electrolyte bath, inserting the collected actinide metal and uranium into the bath, and chlorinating the inserted actinide metal and uranium. Also provided is a system for recycling molten salt, the system having a vessel adapted to receive and heat electrolyte salt, a first plurality of cathodes adapted to be removably inserted into the vessel, a second plurality of cathodes adapted to be removably inserted into the vessel, an anode positioned within the vessel so as to be coaxially aligned with the vessel, and a vehicle for inserting uranium into the salt.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• Assignee: UChicago Argonne, LLC (Chicago, IL)
• Patent Number(s): 11,613,823
• Application Number: 16/724,705
• OSTI ID: 1987258
• Resource Relation: Patent File Date: 12/23/2019
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English