Pyrometallurgical processing of Integral Fast Reactor metal fuels

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5915875

Battles, J E; Miller, W E; Gay, E C

The pyrometallurgical process for recycling spent metal fuels from the Integral Fast Reactor is now in an advanced state of development. This process involves electrorefining spent fuel with a cadmium anode, solid and liquid cathodes, and a molten salt electrolyte (LiCl-KCl) at 500{degrees}C. The initial process feasibility and flowsheet verification studies have been conducted in a laboratory-scale electrorefiner. Based on these studies, a dual cathode approach has been adopted, where uranium is recovered on a solid cathode mandrel and uranium-plutonium is recovered in a liquid cadmium cathode. Consolidation and purification (salt and cadmium removal) of uranium and uranium-plutonium products from the electrorefiner have been successful. The process is being developed with the aid of an engineering-scale electrorefiner, which has been successfully operated for more than three years. In this electrorefiner, uranium has been electrotransported from the cadmium anode to a solid cathode in 10 kg quantities. Also, anodic dissolution of 10 kg batches of chopped, simulated fuel (U--10% Zr) has been demonstrated. Development of the liquid cadmium cathode for recovering uranium-plutonium is under way.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5915875
• Report Number(s): ANL/CP-70796; CONF-910413--4; ON: DE91011156
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050800* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210500 -- Power Reactors
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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400400 -- Electrochemistry
ACTINIDES
ANODES
CADMIUM
CATHODES
CHEMISTRY
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ELECTRODES
ELECTROLYSIS
ELECTROREFINING
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FUELS
IFR REACTOR
LYSIS
MATERIALS
METALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
PLUTONIUM
PROCESSING
PYROCHEMICAL REPROCESSING
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
RECOVERY
REFINING
REPROCESSING
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPENT FUELS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
URANIUM
ZERO POWER REACTORS