HOT CELL DEMONSTRATION OF ZIRFLEX AND SULFEX PROCESSES. Report No. 1
Four runs were conducted in the Zirflex-Sulfex headend hot cell equipment. Prototype PWR blanket rods, Zircaloy2 clad UO/sub 2/, irradiated from 159 to 356 Mwd/t and decayed 2 years, were declad in boiling 6 M NH/sub 4/F-l M NH/sub 4/NO/sub 3/, terminating with a F/Zr mol ratio of 7 in the spent decladding solution. Average decladding time was 1.5 hr, leaving end cap residues of about 5 g per pin. At the end of the decladding, maximum loss of uranium and plutonium to the decladding solution was 0.04 and 0.37%, respectively. The core pellets were largely shattered with less than 0.5 wt% smaller than 10 mesh. Core dissolution was complete in 5 M HNO/sub 3/ in about 40 minutes, yielding a solvent extraction feed containing 4 M HNO/sub 3/ and 100 g U/l. Solid residue from the decladding and core dissolution was less than 0.001% of the initial weight and consisted of traces of Ca, Fe, Cr, and Sn; uranium and plutonium were not detected. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- NSA Number:
- NSA-16-008814
- OSTI ID:
- 4800398
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL-TM-111
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FEED PREPARATION AND SOLVENT EXTRACTION
DEMONSTRATION OF THE ZIRFLEX PROCESS ON IRRADIATED PWR BLANKET FUEL
Related Subjects
CALCIUM
CHEMISTRY
CHROMIUM
DECAY
FLUORIDES
FUEL CANS
FUELS
HOT CELLS
IRON
IRRADIATION
LOSSES
NITRATES
NITRIC ACID
PLUTONIUM
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIATION PROTECTION
REMOTE HANDLING
REPROCESSING
RESIDUES
RODS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLIDS
SOLUTIONS
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SULFEX PROCESS
TIN
TRACE AMOUNTS
URANIUM
URANIUM DIOXIDE
ZIRCALOY
ZIRFLEX PROCESS