The chlorination of plutonium dioxide

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:6843173

Snyder, C ^[1]; West, M H; Ferran, M D; Fife, K W

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1. ed.

We investigated the conversion of PuO/sub 2/ to PuCl/sub 3/ with a number of chlorinating agents, sources of PuO/sub 2/, and reaction conditions, including temperature. We examined Cl/sub 2/, HCl, CCl/sub 4/, Cl/sub 2/-CCl/sub 4/, and HCl-CCl/sub 4/ as potential chlorinating agents. Our study showed tyhat Cl/sub 2/-CCl/sub 4) was the superior chlorinating agent. Using this agent, low-fired PuO/sub 2/--formed by calcining plutonium (III) oxalate at temperatures below 500/degree/C--is more reactive toward chlorination than high-fired PuO/sub 2/, which is formed by calcining plutonium (III) oxalate at 850/degree/C. Both the low- and high-fired PuO/sub 2/ feed materials are more reactive than when PuO/sub 2/ is produced by burning plutonium metal at 400--500/degree/C (foundry oxide). The conversion efficiency of PuO/sub 2/ to PuCl/sub 3/ is relatively constant over a batch-size range of 10--300 g. 21 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6843173
• Report Number(s): LA-11256; ON: DE88017113
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400201* -- Chemical & Physicochemical Properties
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
CALCINATION
CARBOXYLIC ACID SALTS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHLORIDES
CHLORINATION
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DECOMPOSITION
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HALOGENATION
KINETICS
OXALATES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM CHLORIDES
PLUTONIUM COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM OXIDES
PYROLYSIS
REACTION KINETICS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TRANSURANIUM COMPOUNDS