FUSED SALT FUEL PROCESSING IN THE ORNL VOLATILITY PILOT PLANT
A pilot plant development program was carried out for the Fluoride Volatility process, in which UF/sub 4/ contained in a mixture of molten fluorides is fluorinated to the volatile UF/sub 6/, which is further decontaminated by sorptiondesorption in fixed NaF beds. The recovery, as UF/sub 6/, of ~134 kg of fully enriched uranium represented 97.93% of that in the feed, with an additional 1.76% being reclaimed from the NaF and in equipment cleanout; measured losses were 0.03%. The 0.28% unaccounted for is attributed to an observed, but unmeasured, leak. The UF/sub 6/ product analyzed >99.5% of theoretical uranium concentration and contained about 500 ppm of total cation impurities. Since no fission product activity was detected in the product, plant-scale decontamination factors were not determinable. The activity of the material processed was only 10/sup 5/ gross gamma counts/min/mg U. The chief difficulties were plugging of molten Balt lines, the maintaining of a gastight system, and plugging of the NaF beds. Corrosion, though greater than normal in chemical processing plants, did not limit operation. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- NSA Number:
- NSA-14-013787
- OSTI ID:
- 4190566
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL=i'u#
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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