Li2TiO3 pebbles reprocessing, recovery of 6Ll as Li2CO3

A process for obtaining Li2CO3 from Li2TiO3 Powder by wet chemistry was developed. This is considered useful in view of the recovery of the Li-6 isotope from lithium titanate breeder burned to its end of life in a fusion reactor. The process was optimized with respect to the chemical attack of titanate and the precipitation of carbonate from aqueous solutions to get a powder with chemical and morphological characteristics suitable for its reexploitation in the fabrication of Li2TiO3 pebbles. Reprocessing was also planned to adjust the Li-6 concentration to the desired value and to obtain a homogeneous distribution in the powder batch. Further development concerning reprocessing of sintered Li2TiO3 pebbles is in progress exploiting the results obtained with lithium titanate powders. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.