Pyrometallurgical reprocessing of fast reactor metallic fuel -- Development of a new electrorefiner with a ceramic partition

Journal Article · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Nuclear Technology

OSTI ID:72803

Koyama, Tadafumi; Iizuka, Masatoshi ^[1]; Fujita, Reiko ^[2]; Sumida, Yukio ^[2]

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1. Central Research Inst. of the Electric Power Industry, Tokyo (Japan). Komae Research Lab.
2. Toshiba Corp., Kawasaki (Japan). Nuclear Engineering Lab.

A new electrorefiner with a ceramic partition has been developed for pyrometallurgical reprocessing of metallic fuel. In this electrorefiner, dissolution of spent fuel and deposition take place simultaneously, resulting in an increase of the processing rate. The feasibility of this electrorefiner was confirmed by a polarization profile and a current efficiency of an electrotransportation of uranium from a pure uranium anode to an iron cathode through a liquid cadmium pool. Separation of active fission products from actinide was confirmed by a transportation of simulating fission products elements with and without imposing electropotential. The maximum cathode current density onto a liquid cadmium pool without formation of a dendrite was measured against the concentration, and it was found to decrease with increasing concentration of uranium in cadmium. The estimated time required to process 50 kg of heavy metal by the new electrorefiner was less than that of the original electrorefiner.

• OSTI ID: 72803
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 110; ISSN 0029-5450; ISSN NUTYBB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
ALLOY NUCLEAR FUELS
ELECTROREFINING
EQUIPMENT
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
PERFORMANCE
PLUTONIUM
PYROMETALLURGY
REPROCESSING
SPENT FUELS
URANIUM