• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.431-437
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• 2003

Metalization yield of uranium oxide to uranium metal from lithium reduction process of spent pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuels was measured using thermogravimetric analyzer. A reduced metal produced in the process was divided into a solid and a powder part, and each metalization yield was measured. Metalization yield of the solid part was 90.7~95.9 wt%, and the powder being 77.8~71.5 wt% individually. Oxidation behaviour of the quartemary alloy was investigated to take data on the thermal oxidation stability necessary for the study on dry storage of the reduced metal. At $600{\sim}700^{\circ}C$, weight increments of alloy of Mo, Ru, Rh and Pd was 0.40~0.55 wt%. Phase change on the surface of the alloy was started at $750^{\circ}C$. In particular, Mo was rapidly oxidized and then the alloy lost 0.76~25.22 wt% in weight.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.130-137
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• 2014

Resins were synthesized by mixing N-phenylaza-15-crown-5 macrocyclic ligand attached to styrene (2th petroleum in 4th class hazardous materials) divinylbenzene (DVB) copolymer with crosslink of 1%, 2%, 6%, and 12% by substitution reaction. The synthesis of these resins was confirmed by content of chlorine, element analysis, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), surface area, and IR-spectroscopy. The effects of pH, equilibrium arrival time, dielectric constant of solvent and crosslink on adsorption of metal ions by the synthetic resin adsorbent were investigated. The metal ions were showed fast adsorption on the resins above pH 4. The optimum equilibrium time for adsorption of metallic ions was about two hours. The adsorption selectivity determined in ethanol was in increasing order uranium (VI) > zinc (II) > europium (III) ions. The uranium ion adsorbed in the order of 1%, 2%, 6%, and 12% crosslink resin and adsorption of resin decreased in proportion to the order of dielectric constant of solvents.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.9-15
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• 2003

Resins have been synthesized from chlormethyl styrene 1,4- divinylbenzene(DVB) with 1%, 4%, and 20%-crosslinked and macrocyclic ligand of cryptand type by copolymerization method and the adsorption of uranium(VI), nickel(II) and lutetium(III) ions have been investigated in various experimental conditions. The correlation between the adsorption characteristics of rare earths and transition metal on the resins and stability constants of complexes with macrocyclic ligand have been examined. The uranium ion was not adsorbed on the resins below pH 2.0, but the power of adsorption of uranium ion increased rapidly above pH 3.0. The adsorption power was in the order of 1%, 4% and 20%-crosslinked resin, but adsorptive characteristics of resins decreased in proportion to the order of dielectric constants of solvents.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.47-53
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• 2008

The ion exchange resins have been synthesized from chloromethyl styrene (dangerous matter) 1, 4-divinylbenzene(DVB) with 1%, 5%, and 15%-crosslinked and macrocyclic ligand of cryptand type by copolymerization method and the adsorption of uranium(VI), cobalt(II) and europium(III) ions have been investigated in various experimental conditions. The correlation between the adsorption characteristics of rare earths and transition metal on the resins and stability constants of complexes with macrocyclic ligand have been examined. The uranium ion was not adsorbed on the resins below pH 2.0, but the power of adsorption of uranium ion increased rapidly above pH 3.0. The adsorption power was in the order of 1%, 5% and 15%-crosslinked resin, but adsorptive characteristics of resins decreased in proportion to the order of dielectric constants of solvents.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2005

The electrolytic reduction of uranium oxide in a LiCl-Li$_{2}$O molten salt system has been studied in a 10 g U$_{3}$O$_{8}$ /batch-scale experimental apparatus with an integrated cathode assembly at 650$^{\circ}C$. The integrated cathode assembly consists of an electric conductor, the uranium oxide to be reduced and the membrane for loading the uranium oxide. From the cyclic voltammograms for the LiCl-3 wt$\%$ Li$_{2}$O system and the U$_{3}$O$_{8}$-LiCl-3 wt$\%$ Li$_{2}$O system according to the materials of the membrane in the cathode assembly, the mechanisms of the predominant reduction reactions in the electrolytic reactor cell were to be understood; direct and indirect electrolytic reduction of uranium oxide. Direct and indirect electrolytic reductions have been performed with the integrated cathode assembly. Using the 325-mesh stainless steel screen the uranium oxide failed to be reduced to uranium metal by a direct and indirect electrolytic reduction because of a low current efficiency and with the porous magnesia membrane the uranium oxide was reduced successfully to uranium metal by an indirect electrolytic reduction because of a high current efficiency.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.179-182
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• 2001

The chloride volatilization method for the recovery of zirconium and removal of uranium from zirconium containing metallic wastes formed in spent fuel reprocessing was studied using the simulated alloy waste, i.e. the mixture of Zr foil and UO$_2$/U$_3$O$_{8}$ powder. When the simulated waste was heated to react with chlorine gas at 350- l00$0^{\circ}C$, the zirconium metal changed to volatile ZrCl$_4$showing high volatility ratio (Vzr) of 99%. The amount of volatilized uranium increases at higher temperatures causing lowering of decontamination factor (DF) of uranium. This is thought to be caused by the chlorination of UO$_2$ with ZrCl$_4$vapor. The highest DF value of 12.5 was obtained when the reaction temperature was 35$0^{\circ}C$. Addition of 10 vol.% oxygen gas into chlorine gas was effective for suppressing the volatilization of uranium, while the volatilization ratio of zirconium was decreased to 68% with the addition of 20 vol.% oxygen. In the case of the mixture of Zr foil and U$_3$O$_{8}$, the V value of uranium showed minimum (44%) at 40$0^{\circ}C$ with chlorine gas giving the highest DF value 24.3. When the 10 vol.% oxygen was added to chlorine gas, the V value of zirconium decreased to 82% at $600^{\circ}C$, but almost all the uranium volatilized (Vu=99%), which may be caused by the formation of volatile uranium chlorides under oxidative atmosphere.ere.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.475-480
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• 1998

A study on the electrochemical reduction of uranium (VI) to uranium (IV) was carried out in the mixed phases of an organic phase with uranium (VI) and aqueous phase of nitric acid by use of a highly packed glassy carbon (GC) fiber column electrode system, and a model for in-situ electrolytic stripping of uranium (VI) was suggested. The electrochemical reduction of uranium (VI) occurred faster in organic phase than in aqueous phase of the mixed phases. The uranium stripping yield increased and then became constant with the increase of organic flow rate of the electrolytic system due to the increase of diffusion resistance of uranium ions in the organic phase into the aqueous phase. Aqueous flow rate, on the other hand, didn't affect the total uranium (VI) reduction current in the system. The system combined with electrochemical reduction was confirmed to be much more effective than the simple system without it in stripping uranium.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.83-83
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• 2017

Electrorefining is a key step in pyroprocessing. The electrorefining process is generally composed of two recovery steps - 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 solid cathode processing is necessary to separate the salt from the cathode since the uranium deposit in a solid cathode contains electrolyte salt. Distillation process was employed for the cathode processing. It is very important to increase the throughput of the salt separation system due to the high uranium content of spent nuclear fuel and high salt fraction of uranium dendrites. In this study, a mesh-covered crucible was investigated for the sat distillation of electrorefiner uranium deposits. A liquid salt separation step and a vacuum distillation step were combined for salt separation. The adhered salt in uranium deposits was efficiently removed in the mesh-covered crucible. The salt distiller was operated simply since repeated cooling - heating step was not necessary for the change of the crucible. The operation time could be reduced by the use of the mesh-covered crucible and the combined operation of the two steps. A method to preserve a vacuum level was proposed by double O-rings during the operation of the distiller with the mesh-covered crucible. After the salt distillation, the salt content was measured and was below 0.1wt% after the salt distillation. The residual salt after the salt distillation can be removed further during melting of uranium metal.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.245-260
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• 2013

Biosorption represents a technological innovation as well as a cost effective excellent remediation technology for cleaning up radionuclides from aqueous environment. In the present study, a bacteria strain FB12 with high adsorption rate of uranium ion was isolated from the vicinity of the nuclear power plant. It was tentatively identified as Bacillus sp.FB12 according to the 16S rDNA sequencing. Efforts were made to further improve the adsorption rate and genetic stability by UV irradiation and UV-LiCl cooperative mutagenesis. The improved strain named Bacillus sp.UV32 obtains excellent genetic stability and a high adsorption rate of 95.9%. The adsorption of uranium U (VI) by Bacillus sp.UV32 from aqueous solution was examined as a function of metal ion concentration, cell concentration, adsorption time, pH, temperature, and the presence of some foreign ions. The adsorption process of U (VI) was found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. The adsorption isotherm study indicated that it preferably followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The thermodynamic parameters values calculated clearly indicated that the adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic in nature. These properties show that Bacillus sp.UV32 has potential application in the removal of uranium (VI) from the radioactive wastewater.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.395-400
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• 2003

For the long term storage safety study of the metallic spent fuel, U-Nb, U-Ti, U-Ni, U-Zr, and U-Hf simulated metallic uranium alloys, known as corrosion resistant alloys, were fabricated and oxidized in oxygen gas at $200^{\circ}C~300^{\circ}C$. Simulated metallic uranium alloys were more corrosion resistant than pure uranium metal, and corrosion resistance increases Nb, Ni, Ti in that order. The oxidation rates of uranium alloys determined and activation energy was calculated for each alloy. The matrix microstructure of the test specimens were analyzed using OM, SEM, and EPMA. It was concluded that Nb was the best acceptable alloying elements for reducing corrosion of uranium meta] considered to suitable as candidate.