Treatment of irradiated nuclear fuel

Patent · Tue May 04 04:00:00 EDT 1976

OSTI ID:7269866

Bernard, C

A method for reprocessing spent irradiated nuclear fuels containing uranium, plutonium, tritium, and fission products is described. The spent fuel is sheared into fragments and then dissolved in nitric acid to form an aqueous solution including tritium in the form of tritiated water. The aqueous solution is extracted with a suitable organic solvent to separate the uranium, plutonium, a major portion of the fission products, and the tritiated water. The organic phase is washed with two washes - the second substantially smaller in volume than the first-of dilute aqueous nitric acid to render the organic phase virtually free of tritium. The tritium-free organic phase is extracted with a suitable aqueous phase to transfer the uranium, plutonium, and residual fission products to the aqueous phase. The organic phase is then treated first with a sodium carbonate solution and then with alternating alkaline and acid aqueous solutions to render the organic phase suitable for recycling. All fractions containing fission products are treated to concentrate and optionally solidify the fission products. The tritiated water is separated from the aqueous nitric acid making it suitable for recycling. (BLM)

• Assignee: Saint-Gobain Techniques Nouvelles
• Patent Number(s): US 3954654
• OSTI ID: 7269866
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050800* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACTINIDES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXTRACTION
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUELS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
METALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR MATERIALS
REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SPENT FUELS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
TRITIUM
URANIUM
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES