Purification of U from U-10Mo scrap generated during the fabrication of high performance research reactor fuel
- Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
A low enriched U-Mo alloy fuel is under development to replace highly enriched U fuels currently used in United States high performance research reactors. The alloy casting and fuel fabrication processes will generate scrap streams containing low enriched U (LEU) which must be recovered. Solvent extraction processes were designed using the Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction (AMUSE) to purify solutions containing 20 and 50 g/L U. The feed for the solvent extraction processes was prepared from solutions generated from the dissolution of U-10Mo-Zr foils and U-10Mo-Zr-Al mini-plates. The U purification processes were demonstrated using two, 16-stage banks of miniature mixer-settlers. The solvent extraction experiments demonstrated that all design objectives for the U purification processes could be met. The U recovery in the product stream for each flowsheet was ≥99.9%. The flowsheet demonstrations also showed that the purity of the U Product will meet the requirements of the ASTM International C1462-21 specification for LEU metal enriched to less than 20% 235U. In conclusion, the AMUSE modeling for both flowsheet demonstrations was validated by comparing predicted and measured concentrations of U, Mo, and Zr in the exit streams and stage samples at steady-state conditions in the mixer-settlers.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89303321CEM000080
- OSTI ID:
- 2557438
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL--STI-2024-00070
- Journal Information:
- Separation Science and Technology, Journal Name: Separation Science and Technology; ISSN 0149-6395
- Publisher:
- Taylor & FrancisCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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