DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR PU-238 AQUEOUS RECOVERY PROCESS

Conference · Sun Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2000

OSTI ID:766503

PANSOY-HJELVIK, M; REIMUS, M

Aqueous processing is necessary for the removal of impurities from {sup 238}Pu dioxide ({sup 238}PuO{sub 2}) fuel due to unacceptable levels of {sup 234}U and other non-actinide impurities in the scrap fuel. Impurities at levels above General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) fuel specifications may impair the performance.of the heat sources. Efforts at Los Alamos have focused on developing the bench scale methodology for the aqueous process steps which includes comminution, dissolution, ion exchange, precipitation, and calcination. Recently, work has been performed to qualify the bench scale methodology, to show that the developed process produces pure {sup 238}PuO{sub 2} meeting GPHS fuel specifications. In addition, this work has enabled us to determine how waste volumes may be minimized during full-scale processing. Results of process qualification for the bench scale aqueous recovery operation and waste minimization efforts are presented.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., Los Alamos, NM (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 766503
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-00-5298
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CALCINATION
COMMINUTION
HEAT SOURCES
IMPURITIES
ION EXCHANGE
LOS ALAMOS
MINIMIZATION
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
PLUTONIUM 238
SPECIFICATIONS
WASTES