EBR-II spent-fuel treatment demonstration project

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:552371

Benedict, R W; Henslee, S P ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab.-West, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

For {approximately}10 yr, Argonne National Laboratory was developing a fast reactor fuel cycle based on dry processing. When the U.S. fast reactor program was canceled in 1994, the fuel processing technology, called the electrometallurgical technique, was adapted for treating unstable spent nuclear fuel for disposal. While this technique, which involves electrorefining fuel in a molten salt bath, is being developed for several different fuel categories, its initial application is for sodium-bonded metallic spent fuel. In June 1996, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved a radiation demonstration program in which 100 spent driver assemblies and 25 spent blanket assemblies from Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) will be treated for a 3-yr period. This demonstration will provide data that address issues in the National Research Council`s evaluation 2 of the technology. The planned operations will neutralize the reactive component (elemental sodium) in the fuel and produce a low-enriched uranium product, a ceramic waste, and a metal waste. The fission products and transuranium elements, which accumulate in the electrorefining salt, will be stabilized in the glass-bonded ceramic waste form. The stainless steel cladding hulls, noble metal fission products, and insoluble residues from the process will be stabilized in a stainless steel/zirconium alloy. Upon completion of a successful demonstration and additional environmental evaluation, the current plans are to process the remainder of the DOE sodium-bonded fuel.

• OSTI ID: 552371
• Report Number(s): CONF-971125--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 77; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
CLADDING
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
EBR-2 REACTOR
ELECTROREFINING
FISSION PRODUCTS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
SPENT FUELS
WASTE FORMS