The Melt Refining of Irradiated Uranium: Application to EBR-II Fast Reactor Fuel. I. Introduction

The Ebr-Ii Skull Reclamation Process. Part Iii. Skull-Oxidation Equipment.

“…For sustained temperatures above and below this range, the rate of oxidation generally decreased. 4. Rates of oxidation varied somewhat from skull to skull.…”

“…The activity levels of the volatile fission products from the skull-oxidation furnace have been sufficiently low to permit release of the gaseous effluent to the atmosphere through the 200 Fuel is processed by melt refining, which is one of several steps 3,4 in the fuel cycle. In this step, the fuel alloy is melted and liquated for about 2 hr at 1400'C in a lime-stabilized zirconia crucible.…”

The Ebr-Ii Skull Reclamation Process. Part Ii. Oxidation of Melt-Refining Skulls

“…The oxygen consumed in these reactions is supplied from the crucible wall, where a blackened, oxygen-deficient zone is formed. (5) In addition to the oxides, or dross, the skull contains a thin layer of unpoured metal on the crucible walls. * The components of a typical skull in a melt-refining crucible are illustrated in Figure 1.…”

Description and Proposed Operation of the Fuel Cycle Facility for the Second Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II)

“…The fission products fall into three groups which are important from a melt refining viewpoint, namely, (a) those which volatilize (volatile elements), (b) those which oxidize to form a dross which remains in the crucible as part of the skull after pouring (reactive eleinents), and (c) those which remain with the fuel and are not selectively removed (noble elements). (23,25) For some time after reactor startup, the fuel lost by burnup and in the melt refining skull will be replaced by fresh fuel material. Under this condition, the noble fission elements would build up with each successive reactor pass until an equilibrium would be reached wherein the amount produced per reactor pass would be equal to that removed with fuel in the metal part of the skull.…”