Engineered Materials for Cesium and Strontium Storage Final Technical Report
Closing the nuclear fuel cycle requires reprocessing spent fuel to recover the long-lived components that still have useful energy content while immobilizing the remnant waste fission products in stable forms. At the genesis of this project, next generation spent fuel reprocessing methods were being developed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative. One of these processes was focused on solvent extraction schemes to isolate cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr) from spent nuclear fuel. Isolating these isotopes for short-term decay storage eases the design requirements for long-term repository disposal; a significant amount of the radiation and decay heat in fission product waste comes from Cs-137 and Sr-90. For the purposes of this project, the Fission Product Extraction (FPEX) process is being considered to be the baseline extraction method. The objective of this project was to evaluate the nature and behavior of candidate materials for cesium and strontium immobilization; this will include assessments with minor additions of yttrium, barium, and rubidium in these materials. More specifically, the proposed research achieved the following objectives (as stated in the original proposal): (1) Synthesize simulated storage ceramics for Cs and Sr using an existing labscale steam reformer at Purdue University. The simulated storage materials will include aluminosilicates, zirconates and other stable ceramics with the potential for high Cs and Sr loading. (2) Characterize the immobilization performance, phase structure, thermal properties and stability of the simulated storage ceramics. The ceramic products will be stable oxide powders and will be characterized to quantify their leach resistance, phase structure, and thermophysical properties. The research progressed in two stages. First, a steam reforming process was used to generate candidate Cs/Sr storage materials for characterization. This portion of the research was carried out at Purdue University and is detailed in Appendix A. Steam reforming proved to be too rigorous for efficient The second stage of this project was carried out at Texas A&M University and is Detailed in Appendix B. In this stage, a gentler ceramic synthesis process using Cs and Sr loaded kaolinite and bentonite clays was developed in collaboration with Dr. M. Kaminski at Argonne National Laboratory.
- Research Organization:
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy (NE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC07-06ID14737
- OSTI ID:
- 976873
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/FC/14737-Final; TRN: US1200002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BARIUM
BENTONITE
CERAMICS
CESIUM
CLAYS
DECAY
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUEL CYCLE
KAOLINITE
NUCLEAR FUELS
OXIDES
RADIATIONS
REPROCESSING
RUBIDIUM
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SPENT FUELS
STABILITY
STEAM
STORAGE
STRONTIUM
SYNTHESIS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
WASTES
YTTRIUM
ZIRCONATES
Cesium
Strontium
UREX
Waste form