A Nonaqueous Reprocessing Method for Thorium-Based Fuels

Programs have been active periodically to develop a thorium-based fuel cycle for increasing the nation's resource of fissile material. Part of the effort has been the investigation of non-aqueous reprocessing methods for separating thorium from uranium and the behavior of these elements in the presence of fission products and other impurities ( 1 ). Interest in such pyrometallurgical methods and the entire thorium fuel cycle declined in the early 1970s, primarily due to the lower breeding ratio of the Th- 233 U cycle compared to that of the 238 U- 239 Pu cycle, and the consequent effort placed on developing the PuO 2 -UO 2 fuel cycle for fast breeder reactors. The recent advent of proliferation concerns has renewed the interest in the thorium fuel cycle and associated pyrometallurgical reprocessing. One reprocessing scheme which addresses the current problem is described below. The effect of proliferation concerns on the acceptability of a fuel cycle, and the development of aqueous Civex processes