COMPARATIVE COST STUDY OF PROCESSING STAINLESS STEEL-JACKETED UO$sub 2$ FUEL: MECHANICAL SHEAR-LEACH VS SULFEX-CORE DISSOLUTION
The economics of mechanical shear-leach and Sulfex decladding-core dissolution head end treatments for processing typical tubular bundles of stainless steel-jacketed UO/sub 2/ nuclear fuels were compared. A 2.66 metric ton U/day head end portion of a plant was designed for each process and capital and operating costs were developed. For plants of this size and larger, mechanical shear-leach processing has the advantage of ~20% lower capital cost and 50% lower operating cost. Processing costs of stainless steel-jacketed UO/ sub 2/ by the Sulfex and shear-leach methods, including amortization and waste disposal but excluding solvent extraction, were .78 and 7l/kg U, respectively. Storage of stainless steel waste produced by the shear-leach method is less costly by a factor of 20 than for Sulfex. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- NSA Number:
- NSA-16-016457
- OSTI ID:
- 4792049
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL-3227
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-62
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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