CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DIVISION SUMMARY REPORT, JANUARY-MARCH 1962

Technical Report · Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1962

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4781732· OSTI ID:4781732

Additional experiments conducted on nitridation of irradiated U-fissium fuel pins revealed that irradiation does not greatly affect the nitridation rate at 300 deg C. In skullreclamation development, a phase separation common to both the blanket- and skull-processes was investigated in which a 50% Mg-- Zn supernatant solution was removed from precipitated U metal. In most runs the supernatant phase was removed with negligible U entrainment. The reduction rate of ZrO by Zn--Mg solution under skull-recovery process conditions was found to be lower than that of U oxides. It may be possible in this process to effect some Zr separation by limiting the reduction time to that necessary for U. Methods of procesging EBR-II fuels are being investigated to establish methods of separating rare earths from Pu. Development work on preparation of UC by addition of C to U dissolved in liquid metal media showed that the limited addition of alkali metals improves C wetting and the tests showod high C-to-U ratios and high O/sub 2/ contamination; procedure and equipment improvements are being made. Studies are in progress to evaluate the compatibility of various materials with the liquid metal-salt systems contemplated for reactor fuel reprocessing. Tungsten appears to have high corrosion resistance to Zn--Mg solutions and the flux systems used in the skull-reclamation process. A W-30% Mo alloy also showed excellent corrosion resistance to skull-reclamation processing systems in demonstration runs. A status summary of the EBR-II fuel cycle facility is given. Fundamental studies are being made in support of the pyrometallurgical process. The solubilities of Pr and Be in liquid Zn and the solubility of U in liquid In were measured. In recrystallization separation studies, the coprecipitation of Ru by U when the U is precipitated from Mg-- Zn solutions was measured. The codistribution coefficients of U, Pu, Sr, and Cs between Pb and Zn were also measured along with the mutual solubilities of Pb and Zn above 650 deg C. Laboratory development work continued on the direct fluorination process for recovery of U and Pu from oxide fuels. Conclusions concerning Pa removal from inert solids are included. Engineering-scale studies of the direct fluorination of U indicate that high F/sub 2/ efficiency can be obtained by off-gas recycle while holding recycle O/sub 2/ to a ity scheme for recovering enriched U from low U-- Zr alloy fuels. Results of experiments conducted in a 11/2-in.-dia fluid-bed reactor coupled with a similarly sized down-flow filter bed, showed that holdup of U in the inert solids becomes constant upon re-use of the bed. Additional studies on the conversion of zirconium tetrachloride vapor to dense solid oxide by reaction with steam in a fluid-bed reactor were carried out. Efforts to improve reaction efficiency are reviewed. Experimental work on the two-step fluid-bed process for converting UF/sub 6/ to UO/sub 2/ showed excessive fines being formed in some cases; however, it is believed that these can be combined with the main process streams for further reaction to the dioxide. Progress in a program to determine thermodynamic data on compounds of interest in high- temperature chemistry is reported. Information concerning the combustion of Cd, Mg, Ti, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, and U in F/sub 2/ is included. In reactor safety studies, an experimental program to determine the reaction rates of molten reactor fuels and cladding metals with water is continuing. Research on energy conversion by a regenerative emf cell and the thermoelectric effect is reported. Work in progress on Yb/sup 176/, Sb/sup 121/, and Mo/sup 98/ neutron capture is reviewed along with work on reactor decoatamination and routine operations. (J.R.D.)

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., Ill.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• NSA Number: NSA-16-028641
• OSTI ID: 4781732
• Report Number(s): ANL-6543
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-62
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
ALKALI METALS
ANTIMONY 121
BERYLLIUM
CADMIUM
CAPTURE
CARBON
CESIUM
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
CONTAMINATION
CONVERSION
CORROSION
DECONTAMINATION
EFFICIENCY
FILTERS
FISSION
FLUORINE
FUELS
HAFNIUM
HIGH TEMPERATURE
IRRADIATION
LEAD
LIQUID METALS
MAGNESIUM
MEASURED VALUES
METALLURGY
METALS
MOLYBDENUM 98
MOLYBDENUM ALLOYS
NEUTRONS
NIOBIUM
NITROGEN
OPERATION
OXIDATION
OXYGEN
PLUTONIUM
PRASEODYMIUM
PRECIPITATION
RARE EARTHS
REACTORS
RECRYSTALLIZATION
REDUCTION
REPROCESSING
RUTHENIUM
SAFETY
SALTS
SOLIDS
SOLUTIONS
STEAM
STRONTIUM
TANTALUM
THERMODYNAMICS
THERMOELECTRICITY
TITANIUM
TUNGSTEN ALLOYS