Development of a Chlorine Cathode and Anode Basket Assembly for Production of Uranium Chloride

Technical Report · Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2026

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/3022834· OSTI ID:3022834

Dulovic, Stephanie; Nilles, Christian K.; Azzaro, Joseph; Hawthorne, Krista L.

A chlorine cathode has been developed for in situ chlorination of metals, oxides, and oxychlorides in molten chloride electrolytes that could be used to support synthesis of chloride fuel salts for molten salt reactors. The chlorine cathode is designed to electrochemically reduce chlorine gas to generate chloride ions that, when paired with a metal anode, chlorinate that metal as it is oxidized into the salt. The designed porous carbon electrode effectively distributes Cl2 to the electrode surface and efficiently generates Clions in the molten chloride electrolyte. This report highlights recent improvements made to the electrode assembly, with a focus on operational control of the anode basket stability. Synthesis tests demonstrated the successful chlorination of uranium metal, resulting in 3.6 wt% uranium generated in the LiCl-KCl base salt in 45 minutes, performed in a bench-scale chlorination apparatus. Higher concentrations could be achieved by applying longer chlorination times or increasing the amount of uranium loaded in the anode basket. Overall, the chlorine cathode can be used with an appropriately designed anode to chlorinate uranium in situ for synthesis of molten salt reactor fuel salts.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy; USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 3022834
• Report Number(s): ANL/CFCT-26/4; 202727
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English