COMBUSTION-DISSOLUTION EXPERIMENTS WITH IRRADIATED GRAPHITE-BASE REACTOR FUEL CONTAINING CARBON-COATED THORIUM-URANIUM DICARBIDE PARTICLES

doi:https://doi.org/10.2172/4129321

Title: COMBUSTION-DISSOLUTION EXPERIMENTS WITH IRRADIATED GRAPHITE-BASE REACTOR FUEL CONTAINING CARBON-COATED THORIUM-URANIUM DICARBIDE PARTICLES

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Abstract

Four small pieces of simulated HTGR fuel (from the GAIL-IIIA loop experiment) irradiated to approximately 10,000 Mwd/metric ton (U + Th) were burned in oxygen for 5 hr to determine fission product volatility and dissolubility of the ash. Two of the fuel pieces (C-coated Th-U dicarbide particles dispersed in a graphite matrix; Th/U ratio of about 2.5) were burned at 800 deg C; the other two at about 1200 deg C. Essentially no uranium, thorium, zirconium, or rare earths volatilized in any experiment. 0,reater than 78% of the ruthenium was volatile at 800 deg C and 97 to 99% at 1200 deg C. About 25 to 35% of the cesium vaporized at 800 deg C and 67 to 88% at 1200 deg C. The ThO/sub 2/--U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ combustion ash from the two 800 deg C runs was completely dissolved in 7 hr in refluxing 13M HNO/sub 3/--0.04M HF--0.04M Al(NO/sub 3/)/sub 3/; the final solutions were about 0.5M in Th. The ash from the 1200 deg C runs was slightly more refractory. In one case complete dissolution was achieved; but, in the other, only 97% was dissolved in the 7-hr period. The remaining 3% dissolved in a second 7-hr digestionmore »« less

Authors:: Ferris, L. M.; Warren, K. S.; Ullmann, J. W.; Byrd, L. A.; Thompson, C. T.

Publication Date:: 1963-09-20

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.

OSTI Identifier:: 4129321

Report Number(s):: ORNL-TM-688

NSA Number:: NSA-18-003882

DOE Contract Number:: W-7405-ENG-26

Resource Type:: Technical Report

Resource Relation:: Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-64

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: CHEMISTRY; ALUMINUM NITRATES; CARBON; CESIUM; COMBUSTION; FISSION PRODUCTS; FUEL CANS; GRAPHITE; HIGH TEMPERATURE; HYDROFLUORIC ACID; MOCKUP; NITRIC ACID; OXYGEN; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; RARE EARTHS; RESIDUES; RUTHENIUM; SEPARATION PROCESSES; SOLUBILITY; SOLUTIONS; THORIUM; THORIUM CARBIDES; THORIUM OXIDES; U3O8; URANIUM; URANIUM CARBIDES; VOLATILITY; WASTE PROCESSING; ZIRCONIUM

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                    Ferris, L. M., Warren, K. S., Ullmann, J. W., Byrd, L. A., and Thompson, C. T. COMBUSTION-DISSOLUTION EXPERIMENTS WITH IRRADIATED GRAPHITE-BASE REACTOR FUEL CONTAINING CARBON-COATED THORIUM-URANIUM DICARBIDE PARTICLES.  United States: N. p., 1963. 
        Web.  doi:10.2172/4129321.

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                    Ferris, L. M., Warren, K. S., Ullmann, J. W., Byrd, L. A., & Thompson, C. T. COMBUSTION-DISSOLUTION EXPERIMENTS WITH IRRADIATED GRAPHITE-BASE REACTOR FUEL CONTAINING CARBON-COATED THORIUM-URANIUM DICARBIDE PARTICLES.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.2172/4129321

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                    Ferris, L. M., Warren, K. S., Ullmann, J. W., Byrd, L. A., and Thompson, C. T. Fri .  
        "COMBUSTION-DISSOLUTION EXPERIMENTS WITH IRRADIATED GRAPHITE-BASE REACTOR FUEL CONTAINING CARBON-COATED THORIUM-URANIUM DICARBIDE PARTICLES".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.2172/4129321.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/4129321.

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@article{osti_4129321,

  title        = {COMBUSTION-DISSOLUTION EXPERIMENTS WITH IRRADIATED GRAPHITE-BASE REACTOR FUEL CONTAINING CARBON-COATED THORIUM-URANIUM DICARBIDE PARTICLES},

  author       = {Ferris, L. M. and Warren, K. S. and Ullmann, J. W. and Byrd, L. A. and Thompson, C. T.},

  abstractNote = {Four small pieces of simulated HTGR fuel (from the GAIL-IIIA loop experiment) irradiated to approximately 10,000 Mwd/metric ton (U + Th) were burned in oxygen for 5 hr to determine fission product volatility and dissolubility of the ash. Two of the fuel pieces (C-coated Th-U dicarbide particles dispersed in a graphite matrix; Th/U ratio of about 2.5) were burned at 800 deg C; the other two at about 1200 deg C. Essentially no uranium, thorium, zirconium, or rare earths volatilized in any experiment. 0,reater than 78% of the ruthenium was volatile at 800 deg C and 97 to 99% at 1200 deg C. About 25 to 35% of the cesium vaporized at 800 deg C and 67 to 88% at 1200 deg C. The ThO/sub 2/--U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ combustion ash from the two 800 deg C runs was completely dissolved in 7 hr in refluxing 13M HNO/sub 3/--0.04M HF--0.04M Al(NO/sub 3/)/sub 3/; the final solutions were about 0.5M in Th. The ash from the 1200 deg C runs was slightly more refractory. In one case complete dissolution was achieved; but, in the other, only 97% was dissolved in the 7-hr period. The remaining 3% dissolved in a second 7-hr digestion with fresh reagent. The results of these preliminary experiments indicate that a Burn-Dissolve process for irradiated graphite-base reactor fuels is chemically feasible. (auth)},

  doi          = {10.2172/4129321},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4129321},
  journal      = {},
number       = ,

  volume       = ,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {1963},

  month        = {9}

}

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