Review of Research and Development at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant on the Electrolytic Dissolution of Nuclear Fuel

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.…”

Pilot Plant Development of Electrolytic Dissolver for Stainless Steel Alloy Nuclear Fuels

“…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 (Aylward andWhitener, 1961, 1962;Bomar, 1961;Hahn et al, 1963;Slansky et al, 1961). Through these the controlling electrochemical reactions and the effects of electrolyte composition and temperature generally were known.…”

“…Through these the controlling electrochemical reactions and the effects of electrolyte composition and temperature generally were known. Also, data had been compiled on the conductance and physical properties of electrolytes (Pearson, January 1963), and numerous materials had been investigated for application in an electrolytic dissolver (Decker, 1962;Slansky et al, 1961). The dissipation of electrical 1 Present address, Idaho Nuclear Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho.…”

“…The dissipation of electrical 1 Present address, Idaho Nuclear Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho. energy (PR loss) in the solution was the largest source, of heat in the dissolution process (Bower, 1960), and an accumulation of undissolved solids could be anticipated (Slansky et al, 1961). One major problem, that of maintaining an electrical circuit between the fuel and the electrode upon which the fuel normally rested, had been solved by providing a small solution gap between the fuel element and electrodes (Bomar, 1961).…”