Book Description

As part of a continuing program on the development of fluid-bed fluoride volatility processes, methods were developed for reprocessing highly-enriched uranium-aluminum alloy and uranium dioxide-stainless steel cermet fuels. These methods involve two basic gas-solid reaction steps: a separation step, in which the cladding, the bulk constituent of the fuel, is separated from the uranium, a minor constituent of the fuel; and a fluorination step, in which the uranium is recovered through the production of the volatile hexafluoride. The reactions are conducted in a fluid bed of high-fired alumina, which serves as a heat-transfer medium. Processing of these two types of fuels differs mainly in the initial separation step: Hydrogen chloride is used to remove the aluminum as the volatile chloride; the hydrogen fluoride-oxygen mixture is employed to destroy the stainless-steel matrix by producing an oxide mixture which remains with the alumina.