Electrolytic Dissolver for Power Fuels

Abstract

This report was prepared as an account of Government sponsored work. Neither the United States, nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission: A. Makes any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the inforination contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately owned rights; or B. Assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report. As used in the above, "person acting on behalf of the Commission" includes any emPloyee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor, to the extent that such employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor prepares, disseminates, or provides access to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission, or his employment with such contractor.

NASNF Processing and Packaging Technical Study

“…In contrast, the Fast Critical Assembly (FCA) can has a smaller diameter and fits deeper in the basket, with the bottom 4" to 6" within the full current zone. Caracciolo (1964a) performed stray current calculations to evaluate the feasibility of processing Na-bonded fuel, where the reaction could be managed at a controlled rate. The estimate postulated that in the first 5 cm above the full current zone the corrosion rate would be 40 mils per hour (mph), equivalent to 0.8 g/cm 2hour for stainless steel.…”

Performance of Titanium and Niobium Electrodes in an Electrolytic Dissolver for Nuclear Fuels.

“…Eight d i f f e r e n t e l e c t r ol y t e compositions a able 1) were used i n t h e s e s t u d i e s , . r e f l e c t i n g t h e search f o r an e l e c t r o l y t e which gave t o l e ra b l e corrosion of t i t a n i m .…”

Chemical and Process Development Branch Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1965

“…The electrodissolution of stainless steel reactor fuels in nitric acid was first tested by Pitzer [48] in 1951. By 1958, the need of reprocessing capacity for stainless steel and Nichrome fuels appeared to be growing rapidly and development work on an electrolytic process was started at both the Savannah River Laboratory [49] Prior to the initiation of the pilot plant program at the ICPP, a considerable amount of basic literature studies and laboratory testing had already been accomplished [50,51,52,53,54]^ Through these, the controlling electrochemical reactions and the effects of electroljrte composition and temperature were generally known. Also, data had been compiled on the conductance and physical properties of electrolytes [55]^ and numerous materials had been investigated for their application in an electrolytic dissolver [50, 56J, it was also known that the dissipation of electrical energy (L^R loss) in the solution was the largest source of heat in the dissolution process [57] and that an accumulation of undissolved solids could be anticipated [50J^ Q^^ major problem, that of m.aintaining an even current flow to the fuel from the anodic electrode upon which the fuel normally rested, had been solved by providing a small solution gap between the fuel element and electrodes [58J.…”