Uranium-233 purification and conversion to stabilized ceramic grade urania for LWBR fuel fabrication (LWBR Development Program)
Abstract
High purity ceramic grade urania (/sup 233/UO/sub 2/) used in manufacturing the fuel for the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) core was made from uranium-233 that was obtained by irradiating thoria under special conditions to result in not more than 10 ppM of uranium-232 in the recovered uranium-233 product. A developmental study established the operating parameters of the conversion process for transforming the uranium-233 into urania powder with the appropriate chemical and physical attributes for use in fabricating the LWBR core fuel. This developmental study included the following: (a) design of an ion exchange purification process for removing the gamma-emitting alpha-decay daughters of uranium-232, to reduce the gamma-radiation field of the uranium-233 during LWBR fuel manufacture; (b) definition of the parameters for precipitating the uranium-233 as ammonium uranate (ADU) and for reducing the ADU with hydrogen to yield a urania conversion product of the proper particle size, surface area and sinterability for use in manufacturing the LWBR fuel; (c) establishment of parameters and design of equipment for stabilizing the urania conversion product to prevent it from undergoing excessive oxidation on exposure to the air during LWBR fuel manufacturing operations; and (d) development of a procedure and a facility to reprocessmore »
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Bettis Atomic Power Lab., West Mifflin, PA (USA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 6710867
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 6710867
- Report Number(s):
- WAPD-TM-1422
TRN: 81-002957
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC11-76PN00014
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS; 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; LWBR TYPE REACTORS; NUCLEAR FUELS; ALPHA DECAY; AMMONIUM URANATES; PRECIPITATION; REACTOR CORES; REMOVAL; URANIUM 232; URANIUM 233; URANIUM DIOXIDE; ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS; ACTINIDE ISOTOPES; ACTINIDE NUCLEI; ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS; BREEDER REACTORS; CHALCOGENIDES; DECAY; ENERGY SOURCES; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; EVEN-ODD NUCLEI; FUELS; HEAVY NUCLEI; ISOTOPES; MATERIALS; NUCLEI; OXIDES; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; RADIOISOTOPES; REACTOR COMPONENTS; REACTOR MATERIALS; REACTORS; SEPARATION PROCESSES; THERMAL REACTORS; URANATES; URANIUM COMPOUNDS; URANIUM ISOTOPES; URANIUM OXIDES; WATER COOLED REACTORS; WATER MODERATED REACTORS; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES 210500* -- Power Reactors, Breeding; 050700 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Fuels Production & Properties
Citation Formats
Lloyd, R. Uranium-233 purification and conversion to stabilized ceramic grade urania for LWBR fuel fabrication (LWBR Development Program). United States: N. p., 1980.
Web. doi:10.2172/6710867.
Lloyd, R. Uranium-233 purification and conversion to stabilized ceramic grade urania for LWBR fuel fabrication (LWBR Development Program). United States. doi:10.2172/6710867.
Lloyd, R. Wed .
"Uranium-233 purification and conversion to stabilized ceramic grade urania for LWBR fuel fabrication (LWBR Development Program)". United States. doi:10.2172/6710867. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6710867.
@article{osti_6710867,
title = {Uranium-233 purification and conversion to stabilized ceramic grade urania for LWBR fuel fabrication (LWBR Development Program)},
author = {Lloyd, R.},
abstractNote = {High purity ceramic grade urania (/sup 233/UO/sub 2/) used in manufacturing the fuel for the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) core was made from uranium-233 that was obtained by irradiating thoria under special conditions to result in not more than 10 ppM of uranium-232 in the recovered uranium-233 product. A developmental study established the operating parameters of the conversion process for transforming the uranium-233 into urania powder with the appropriate chemical and physical attributes for use in fabricating the LWBR core fuel. This developmental study included the following: (a) design of an ion exchange purification process for removing the gamma-emitting alpha-decay daughters of uranium-232, to reduce the gamma-radiation field of the uranium-233 during LWBR fuel manufacture; (b) definition of the parameters for precipitating the uranium-233 as ammonium uranate (ADU) and for reducing the ADU with hydrogen to yield a urania conversion product of the proper particle size, surface area and sinterability for use in manufacturing the LWBR fuel; (c) establishment of parameters and design of equipment for stabilizing the urania conversion product to prevent it from undergoing excessive oxidation on exposure to the air during LWBR fuel manufacturing operations; and (d) development of a procedure and a facility to reprocess the unirradiated thoria-urania fuel scrap from the LWBR core manufacturing operations to recover the uranium-233 and convert it into high purity ceramic grade urania for LWBR core fabrication.},
doi = {10.2172/6710867},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {1980},
month = {10}
}