Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT) (방사성폐기물학회지)

Korean Radioactive Waste Society (한국방사성폐기물학회)
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Mechanochemical Approach for Oxide Reduction of Spent Nuclear Fuels for Pyroprocessing

  • Received : 2020.10.06
  • Accepted : 2020.11.20
  • Published : 2021.06.30
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Abstract

Solid-state mechanochemical reduction combined with subsequent melting consolidation was suggested as a technical option for the oxide reduction in pyroprocessing. Ni ingot was produced from NiO as a starting material through this technique while Li metal was used as a reducing agent. To determine the technical feasibility of this approach for pyroprocessing, which handles spent nuclear fuels, thermodynamic calculations of the phase stabilities of various metal oxides of U and other fission elements were made when several alkaline and alkali-earth metals were used as reducing agents. This technique is expected to be beneficial, not only for oxide reduction but also for other unit processes involved in pyroprocessing.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MISP) (2017M2A8A5015077).

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