Research and Development of the pyrochemical processing for the mixed nitride uranium-plutonium fuel

Abstract

A mixed nitride U-Pu SNF pyrochemical reprocessing technology was suggested. It includes the following basic operations: dissolution of key components using the CdCl2 or PbCl2 oxidizer in chloride melt and their subsequent deposition as oxides. The obtained product, which is a mixture of actinides and rare-earth metals, may be additionally purified using hydrometallurgical processes (combined technology) or using pyrochemical methods. The mixture of actinides oxides is reduced to metal ("metallization"), additionally purified from fission products during electrorefining and then Am and Cm are separated using the potentiostatic electrolysis in order to obtain products that may be used for pure fuel fabrication.