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Nuclear Fuel Recycling
Published in Kenneth D. Kok, Nuclear Engineering Handbook, 2016
Patricia Paviet, Michael F. Simpson
Although aqueous systems have played the dominant part in fuel reprocessing, nonaqueous electrochemical separations with molten salt electrolytes have proven effective in the United States for recycling actinides in defense-related (primarily plutonium-bearing) materials as well as metallic fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II). Plant designs based on preliminary research and development results indicate that this specific version of pyroprocessing (as will be nominally referred) has the potential to reduce the size of plants and equipment needed (Nuclear wastes technologies for separations and transmutations, 1996, 43–44; Wick, 1980, 544–549), and, thus, the cost, as compared with a plant based on aqueous reprocessing.
Testing of an Element Tracer Dilution Method for Measurement of Total Mass of Molten Salt in a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Process or Molten Salt Reactor
Published in Nuclear Technology, 2022
Huan Zhang, Shelly X. Li, Michael F. Simpson
Molten salts containing fissile actinides are utilized in pyroprocessing-based used nuclear fuel recycling processes, such as the electrometallurgical treatment of irradiated Experimental Breeder Reactor-II in the Fuel Conditioning Facility of Idaho National Laboratory1 (INL). Pyroprocessing technology has yet to be scaled to support treatment of commercial used fuel but is considered as a candidate for such application, most notably in Korea.2 Another emerging application of molten salts in the nuclear energy field is as a liquid fuel in a molten salt reactor (MSR). The first demonstration of a molten salt–fueled nuclear reactor was the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1960s (Ref. 3). In recent years, there is renewed interest in new approaches to the MSR (Ref. 4). Nuclear reactor design companies, including but not limited to TerraPower, Terrestrial Energy, and Flibe Energy, have notably publicized their intention to develop advanced versions of the MSR (Ref. 5). This development increases the probability that molten salt systems will be used in large-scale nuclear operations.
Review of Candidate Techniques for Material Accountancy Measurements in Electrochemical Separations Facilities
Published in Nuclear Technology, 2020
Jamie B. Coble, Steven E. Skutnik, S. Nathan Gilliam, Michael P. Cooper
Several fundamental differences between the nature of aqueous reprocessing flow sheets and those proposed in pyroprocessing present substantial challenges to deploying current techniques developed for aqueous flow sheets directly to pyroprocessing systems. Briefly, pyroprocessing is a batch process, while PUREX is a continuous process. The hot-cell environments characteristic of pyroprocessing are likewise much harsher and more challenging for many in situ measurements. More important is the nature of material flows within the electrorefiner as compared to aqueous solvent extraction processes; unlike in the latter case, actinides that are not extracted during electrorefining remain in residence within the salt, resulting in a nonconstant residual inventory that can confound traditional material balance approaches.
Conceptual Design of a Pilot-Scale Pyroprocessing Facility
Published in Nuclear Technology, 2019
Yoon Il Chang, Robert W. Benedict, Matthew D. Bucknor, Javier Figueroa, Joseph E. Herceg, Terry R. Johnson, Eugene R. Koehl, Richard M. Lell, Young Soo Park, Chad L. Pope, Stanley G. Wiedmeyer, Mark A. Williamson, James L. Willit, Reid James, Steve Meyers, Bryan Spaulding, John Underdahl, Mike Wolf
An early version of pyroprocessing based on melt-refining was employed for the fuel cycle closure demonstration in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II). About 35 000 fuel pins were recycled based on melt-refining and injection-casting fabrication in the adjacent Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF) with a typical turnaround time of 45 days from 1965 through 1969.1 However, melt-refining could not remove noble metal fission products and separate higher actinides from uranium. When the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) Program2 was initiated in 1983, an electrorefining process was adopted in place of melt-refining. The pyroprocessing technology was further developed during the IFR Program, and the original EBR-II FCF was refurbished using the new electrorefining-based equipment to demonstrate pyroprocessing at the engineering scale.