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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

USE OF FUSED SALT-FLUORIDE VOLATILITY PROCESS WITH IRRADIATED URANIA DECAYED 15-30 DAYS

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4762658
In laboratory tests U recovered from irradiated UO/sub 2/ fuel decayed l5 to 30 days was highly decontaminated from short-half-life fission products by the fused salt-fluoride volatility process. Radioactive I/sub 2/ and Te, which form volatile fluorides, were effectively separated from the UF/sub 6/ product in the NaF absorption step operated at 100 deg C. Radioactive Nb, Ru, and Zr behaved in accordance with previous work, resulting also in good decontamination of the UF/sub 6/ product from their respective fiuorides. The behavio: of Mo/sup 99/ F/ sub 6/ with a half life of 6.7 hr in the NaF absorption step was in agreement with other work on the MoF/sub 6/-NaF system. The disappearance of radioactive I/ sub 2/, Te, Nb, Ru, and Mo in the fused salt dissolution step indicated that precipitation or volatilization and condensation at the top of the dissolution reactor occurred, with not much of the material being carried out of the vessel with the excess HF. Dissolution rates for the irradiated UO/sub 2/ clad in Zircaloy-2, used as feed material, were approximately the same as those obtained with unirradiated material. (auth)
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-26
NSA Number:
NSA-16-031675
OSTI ID:
4762658
Report Number(s):
ORNL-3280
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English