• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제40권3호
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• pp.163-174
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• 2008

As part of the spent fuel treatment program at the Idaho National Laboratory, a vacuum distillation process is being employed for the recovery of actinide products following an electrorefining process. Separation of the actinide products from a molten salt electrolyte and cadmium is achieved by a batch operation called cathode processing. A cathode processor has been designed and developed to efficiently remove the process chemicals and consolidate the actinide products for further processing. This paper describes the fundamentals of cathode processing, the evolution of the equipment design, the operation and efficiency of the equipment, and recent developments at the cathode processor. In addition, challenges encountered during the processing of irradiated spent nuclear fuel in the cathode processor will be discussed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.335-342
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• 2011

As part of the Department of Energy's Fuel Cycle Research and Development Program an electrochemical technology employing molten salts is being developed for recycle of metallic fast reactor fuel and treatment of light water reactor oxide fuel to produce a feed for fast reactors. This technology has been deployed for treatment of used fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) in the Fuel Conditioning Facility, located at the Materials and Fuel Complex of Idaho National Laboratory. This process is based on dry (non-aqueous) technologies that have been developed and demonstrated since the 1960s. These technologies offer potential advantages compared to traditional aqueous separations including: compactness, resistance to radiation effects, criticality control benefits, compatibility with advanced fuel types, and ability to produce low purity products. This paper will summarize the status of electrochemical development and demonstration activities with used nuclear fuel, including preparation of associated high-level waste forms.