Prevention of Pu(IV) polymerization in a PUREX-based process
- Idaho State University, 1776 Science Center Drive, Idaho Falls, ID 83402 (United States)
- AREVA NC, 1 rue des Herons, 78182 St Quentin en Yvelines (France)
The US Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) is being designed to produce MOX fuel assemblies for use in domestic, commercial nuclear power reactors, as part of the U.S. DOE efforts to dispose of surplus weapon-grade plutonium. The feed material is plutonium dioxide from surplus weapon grade plutonium. PuO{sub 2}, issued from a pit disassembly and conversion facility (PDCF), will be processed using a flowsheet derived from the La Hague reprocessing plant to remove impurities. The purified PuO{sub 2} will be blended with UO{sub 2} to form mixed oxide pellets, and loaded into fuel rods, to create MOX fuel assemblies based on the process and technology of the MELOX plant in France,. Safety studies are necessary to support the development of the design basis per regulation 10 CFR Part 70 to complete an integrated safety analysis for the MFFF facility. The formation of tetravalent plutonium polymers in certain process vessels of the aqueous polishing (AP) process has been identified as a potential hazard. Based on scientific literature, the following paper demonstrates that within the AP process units, the polymerization of Pu(IV) will not occur and/or will not create a criticality issue even where the acidity may drop below 0.5 N HNO{sub 3}. We will identify and control the conditions under which plutonium (IV) will not polymerize. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 20979782
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Advanced nuclear fuel cycles and systems (GLOBAL 2007), Boise - Idaho (United States), 9-13 Sep 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 19 refs; Related Information: In: Proceedings of GLOBAL 2007 conference on advanced nuclear fuel cycles and systems, 1873 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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