CHEMICAL BASIS FOR PYROCHEMICAL REPROCESSING OF NUCLEAR-FUEL

The integral fast reactor (IFR) is an advanced breeder reactor concept that includes on-site reprocessing of spent fuel and wastes. Spent metallic fuel from the IFR is separated from fission products and cladding, and wastes are put into acceptable forms by use of a compact pyrochemical process based on partition of fuel and wastes between molten salt and liquid metal. To minimize reagent usage and, consequently, waste volume, electrotransport between metal phases is used extensively for feed dissolution and product recovery, but chemical oxidation and reduction are required for some operations. This paper describes the processes that are used and presents the chemical theory that was developed for quantitatively predicting the results of both chemical and electrotransport operations.