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http://dx.doi.org/10.9713/kcer.2012.50.4.696

Analysis on Distribution Characteristics of Spent Fuel in Electrolytic Reduction Process  

Park, Byung Heung (Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation)
Lee, Chul Soo (Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University)
Publication Information
Korean Chemical Engineering Research / v.50, no.4, 2012 , pp. 696-701 More about this Journal
Abstract
Non-aqueous processes have been developed for stable management and reuse of spent fuels. Nowadays, a plan for the management of spent fuel is being sought focusing on a non-aqueous process in Korea. Named as pyroprocessing, it includes an electrolytic reduction process using molten salt at high temperature for the spent fuels, which provides metallic product for a following electro-refining process. The electrolytic reduction process utilizes electrochemical reaction producing Li to convert oxides into metals in high temperature LiCl medium. Various kinds of elements in the spent fuels would be distributed in the system according to their respective reactivity with the reductant, Li, and the medium, LiCl. This study elucidates the reactions of the elements to understand the behavior of composite elements on the spent fuels by thermodynamic calculations. Uranium and transuranic are reduced into their metallic forms while rare-earth oxides, except for Eu, are stable against the reaction at a process temperature. This study also covers the tendency of reactions with respect to the temperature and, finally, estimates radioactivity and heat load on the distributed phases based on the reference spent fuel characteristics.
Keywords
Spent Fuel; Pyroprocessing; Electrolytic Reduction; Thermodynamic Calculation;
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