Selected uranium product characteristics for the EBR-II spent-fuel treatment program
- Argonne National Lab.-West, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
The key step in the treatment of spent fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) at Argonne National Laboratory-West is electrorefining. In this process, chopped, irradiated U-10 Zr fuel is loaded into perforated steel baskets and used as the anode in the electrorefiner. A solid steel mandrel is used as the cathode onto which uranium metal deposits. Active metal fission products accumulate in the electrolyte, consisting primarily of molten LiCl/KCl (eutectic composition) and UCl{sub 3} (nominally 6 wt%). Noble metals, such as zirconium and ruthenium, are retained either in the emptied steel hulls or in the electrorefiner (e.g., dissolved in a cadmium pool beneath the pool of electrolyte).
- OSTI ID:
- 552372
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-971125--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 77; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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