Fundamental Electrochemical Properties of Liquid Metals in LiCl-KCl for Separation of Alkali/Alkaline-Earths (Cs, Sr, and Ba)

Management of Alkali and Alkaline Earth Fission Products in Used Pyroprocessing Salt

“…Note that in Figure 11 electromotive force measurements of Rb + in bismuth were used to represent Cs + in bismuth due to a lack of availability of measurements for Cs + in bismuth . Deposition of Cs + , Sr 2+ , and Ba 2+ into zinc, cadmium, bismuth, lead, tin and antimony have all been attempted with deposition in bismuth, antimony, and Bi-Sb alloys being most successful (Kim et al, 2018). The removal of Ba 2+ and Sr 2+ is more efficient than the removal of Cs + due to the greater thermochemical driving force for alloying liquid metals with Sr 2+ and Ba 2+ than with Cs + .…”

“…The radioactive decay of 137 Cs and 90 Sr (halflife 30 and 29 years) generates significant heat and produces strong ionizing radiation fields (β and γ). The increasing heat load and radioactivity as these elements build up in the molten salt requires frequent replacement and disposal of the electrolyte salt (Kim et al, 2018). Alternatively, the salt can be treated to remove these and other elements and then recycled to the electrorefiner.…”