Evaluation of 2.25Cr‐1Mo Alloy for Containment of LiCl/KCl Eutectic during the Pyrometallurgical Processing of Used Nuclear Fuel

Abstract

Recovery of uranium from the Mk-IV and Mk-V electrorefiner vessels containing a LiCl/KCl eutectic salt has been on-going during the pyrometallurgical processing of used nuclear fuel for 14 and 12 years, respectively. Although austenitic stainless steels are typically utilized for LiCl/KCl salt systems, the presence of cadmium in the Mk-IV electrorefiner dictates an alternate material. A 2.25Cr-1Mo alloy (ASME SA-387) was chosen due to the absence of nickel in the alloy which has a considerable solubility in cadmium. Using the transition metal impurities (iron, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and manganese) in the electrorefined uranium products, an algorithm was developed to derive values for the contribution of the transition metals from the various input sources. Weight loss and corrosion rate data for the Mk-V electrorefiner vessel were then generated based on the transition metal impurities in the uranium products. To date, the corrosion rate of the 2.25Cr-1Mo alloy in LiCl/KCl eutectic is "outstanding" assuming uniform (i.e. non-localized) conditions.

In situ synthesis of PuCl3 and corresponding Raman and density functional theory vibrational modes

“…Commonly reported lanthanide and actinide chlorination pathways for trichloride formation are often conducted under high temperature environments and include the use of hydrochloric acid or chlorine gas as the chlorinating agent, where oxides, sesquioxides, and hydrides have been utilized as reactants. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Additionally, chlorination via molten salt mixtures, including LiCl-KCl, NaCl-CaCl 2 , and metallic U, has been widely reported and includes chlorinating agents such as BiCl 3 , 16 CdCl 2 , 17 CuCl 2 , 18 FeCl x , 19 NH 4 Cl, 20 and ZnCl 2 . 21,22 UCl 3 synthesis can additionally be accomplished via hydrogen reduction of the tetrachloride.…”