Light Water Reactor Fuel Recycle Program plutonium nitrate-to-oxide conversion project. Progress report, May--June 1976

Work is being done at the Rocky Flats Plant under contract from the Savannah River Operations Office (SROO) of the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) to critically analyze and evaluate existing technology for converting plutonium nitrate to plutonium oxide, and to recommend flow sheets and equipment for this process. This report details a plan for selecting the most suitable process using presently developed technology. In addition, the scope-defining assumptions and the criteria to be used for comparing the processes are defined. The criteria will be used to select a primary and several alternative processes for conversion of plutonium nitrate to plutonium oxide in reprocessing light water reactor (LWR) fuel.