Selective oxidation of RE elements from the U/RE metal ingot was studied in this paper using electrochemical process. Constant potential of -1.7V was applied between anode and cathode, where the potential value corresponds to standard potentials between actinide and rare earth materials. When the current values approached to nearly 0 mA, the reaction was finished. It is confirmed from the EPMA analysis that only U part of the U/RE ingot was remained. The metal recovered to the zinc cathode was obtained through the distillation process and it is being chemically analyzed in the KAERI analytical laboratory.

U/RE was electrochemically recovered to LCC at $50mA/cm^2$ from LiCl-KCl salt containing $0.5wt%UCl_3$, $0.22wt%NdCl_3$, 0.15wt%$CeCl_3$ and $0.07wt%LaCl_3$. The Cd in the LCC deposit was removed during the distillation using Cd distiller. U/RE product of 107g obtained from the distiller was installed to TG and then heated to $1200^{\circ}C$ to be consolidated. Dense U/RE metal ingot was not acquired through the consolidation process because U/RE product had been partially already oxidized during the distillation process.

The electrorefining process is generally composed of two recovery steps in pyroprocessing - the deposit of uranium onto a solid cathode and the recovery of the remaining uranium and TRU elements simultaneously by a liquid cadmium cathode. The liquid cathode processing is necessary to separate cadmium from the actinide elements since the actinide deposits are dissolved or precipitated in a liquid cathode. Distillation process was employed for the cathode processing. It is very important to avoid a splattering of cadmium during evaporation due to the high vapor pressure. In this study, a multi-layer porous round cover was proposed and examined to develop a splatter shield for the Cd distillation crucible. Cadmium vapor can be released through the holes of the shield, whereas liquid drops can be collected in the multiple hemisphere. The collected drops flow on the round surface of the cover and flow down into the crucible. The crucible cover was fabricated and tested in the Cd distiller. The cover was made with three stainless steel round plates with a diameter of 33.50 mm. The distance between the hemispheres and the diameter of the holes are 10 and 1 mm, respectively. About 40 grams of Cd and about 4 grams of Bi was distilled at a reduced pressure for two hours at $470^{\circ}C$. After the Cd distillation experiment, cadmium was not detected and more than 90 % of Bi remained in the ICP-OES analysis. Therefore the crucible cover can be a candidate for the splatter shield of the Cd distillation crucible. Further development of the crucible cover is necessary for the decision of the optimum cover geometry and the operating conditions of the Cd distiller.

In this study, 5-bromo-2,9-bis(5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-1,10-phenanthroline (5-bromo-Ph4-BTPhen) was synthesized and evaluated for its ability to remove major radionuclides ($Cs^+$, $Sr^{2+}$, and $Co^{2+}$). The synthesized ligand removed both $Sr^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$ from $1mg\;L^{-1}$ aqueous solutions with extraction efficiencies of up to 99% at neutral and alkaline pH. The $Sr^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$ removal efficiencies decreased as a consequence of the higher bonding strengths of competing metal ions to the N-donor atoms in the cavity of the ligand; competing divalent ions affected the $Sr^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$ removal efficiencies more than monovalent ions.