Process support conditions for dissolving metallic plutonium in a mixture of nitric and hydrofluoric acids

The process of dissolving metallic plutonium is based on a method that uses a mixture of nitric and hydrofluoric acids. The choice of this method is cited in comparison primarily with the method of dissolving Pu in hydrochloric acid solutions [1]. Dissolution is done in mixtures of 4–12 moles/liter of nitric acid and 0.2–0.4 mole/liter of hydrofluoric acid with boiling of the solution. The process of dissolving plutonium releases about 90 liters of gas per kg of metal. For practical purposes, the volume and composition of the gas depend only slightly on the concentration of the acids and the solid:liquid ratio.