SOLUBILITY AND STABILITY OF PuF$sub 3$ IN FUSED ALKALI FLUORIDE-BERYLLIUM FLUORIDE MIXTURES

Technical Report · Thu Jun 26 04:00:00 EDT 1958

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4335269· OSTI ID:4335269

Barton, C. J.; Grimes, W. R.; Strenhlow, R. A.

The solubility of PuF/sub 3/ in one NaF--LiF--BeF/sub 2/ mixture, three NaF --BeF/sub 2/ mixtures and four LiF--BeF/sub 2/ mixtures was determined at temperatures ranging from about 550 to 650 deg C. Solubiltty-composition diagrams for the binary systems at 565 deg C show that in the LiF--BeF/sub 2/ system a minimum solubility of 0.26 mole% PuF/sub 3/ occurs at about 63 mole% LiF while in the NaF--BeF/sub 2/ system the minimum solubiltty of 0.18 mole% PuF/sub 3/ occurs at approximately 67 mole% NaF. In both systems, the solubility increases rather slowly on adding BeF/sub 2/ to the composition exhibiting minimum solubility but increases quite rapidly on adding alkali fluoride to this composition. The highest solubility observed at 565 deg C was 1.2 mole% PuF/sub 3/ in the mixture NaF--LiF--BeF/sub 2/ mixtures, the only plutonium species observed with the help of a polarizing microscope wns PuF/sub 3/ but another compound believed to have the formula NaPuF/sub 3 was found in the fused NaF--BeF/sub 2/--PuF/sub 3/ mixture containing 64 mole% NaF and in the mikture resulting from the addition of PuF/sub 3/ to the ternary solvent composition. No evidence of disproportionation of PuF/sub 3/ was found in the course of the solubility studies. (auth)

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-12-010499
• OSTI ID: 4335269
• Report Number(s): ORNL-2530
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ALKALI METALS
BERYLLIUM FLUORIDES
CHEMISTRY
DIAGRAMS
FLUORIDES
FUSED SALTS
LITHIUM FLUORIDES
MICROSCOPY
MIXING
PLUTONIUM FLUORIDES
POLARIZATION
QUANTITY RATIO
SODIUM FLUORIDES
SOLUBILITY
STABILITY
TEMPERATURE