POWER REACTOR FUEL PROCESSING PRELIMINARY REPORT

ABS'JBACT Fused Salt--Fluoride V o l a t i l i t y Process -An overall decontamination f a c t o r of more than lo5 and a uranium loss of l e s s than O.l$ have been obtained w i t h the fluoride v o l a t i l i t y process i n laboratory tests.General Dissolution Studies.Fuels containing s t a i n l e s s steel were carburized o r dissolved i n molten aluminum and then dissolved i n n i t r i c acid.Such f u e l s were dissolved d i r e c t l y i n aqua regia, chromic-Uranium was recovered from zirconium f u e l s by leaching with n i t r i c .n i t r i c acid, or, by anodic e l e c t r o l y s i s , i n n i t r i c acid.r *\ * acid after oxidation, zinc or aluminum alloying, fused s a l t dissolution, or e l e c t r o l y t i c dissolution.-\ Molybdenum-uranium a l l o y was d i r e c t l y soluble i n n i t r i c acid a t acceptable rates.uranium a l l o y s w i t h Zr, Nb, Si, and M o i n n i t r i c acid or d i l u t e aqua regia are l i s t e d .?he rates of dissolution of Solvent Extraction Studies, Adaptations of solvent e x t r a c t i o n processes now i n use appear feasible for processing solutions of fuel elemepts containing d i f f i c u l t l y soluble metals.Zircex Process .Vydrochlorination of a zirconium-containing fuel element produced ZrC14, which volatilized.residue r e a d i l y dissolved i n n i t r i c acid.Uranium chloride i n the Hermex Processo Massive uranium dissolved rapidly i n b o i l i n g mercury and was recovered from the cooled amalgam a s uranium mercuride r. by f i l t e r i n g and pressing.Fission product decontamination f a c t o r s were . .'e* 10 2 3 -10 f o r 3-year-decayed uranium and 15-28 f o r 45-day-decayed uranium.il-m e uranium merouride was converted t o uranium metal by v o l a t i l i z i n g the mercury and melting the uranium i n a s i n g l e s t e p a t 12OO0C.