Reprocessing nuclear fuel

If the spent fuel is processed in a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, the radioactive iodine species (elemental iodine and methyl iodide) trapped in the spent fuel elements ate ultimately released into dissolver off gases. The radioactive iodine may then be captured by chemisorption on molecular sieve 2eohtes containing silver (89). 

Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing. Spent fuel from a nuclear reactor contains Pu, Th, and many other radioactive isotopes (fission... 

J. T. Long, Pngineeringfor Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing, Gordon and Breach, Inc., New York, 1967. 

As of 1995, there were no nuclear fuel reprocessing plants operating in the United States. Other nuclear nations have constmcted second- or third-generation reprocessing faciUties. These nations have signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and the faciUties are under the purview of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

D. W. HoWid.2cy, A Eiterature Survey Methodsfor the Removal of Iodine Spedafrom Off-Gas andEiquid Waste Streams of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plants, with Emphasis on Solid Sorbents, ORNL/TM-6350, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Term., 1979. 

Carbonates. Actinide carbonate complexes are of interest not only because of their fundamental chemistry and environmental behavior (150), but also because of extensive industrial appHcations, primarily in uranium recovery from ores and nuclear fuel reprocessing. 

Fullwood and Erdman, 1983 circumvent this problem by comparing risk as cubes in which linear dimensions are the cube root of the volume/risk. Figure 1.4.3-5 compares the risks associated with nuclear fuel reprocessing, refabrication and waste disposal with nonnuclear risks. 

It is also invaluable in separating U from Pu and other fission products during nuclear fuel reprocessing, since Pu reacts only to give the (involatile) PUF4 and most fission products... 

Reported plant applications of a.c. impedance and electrochemical noise are rare, but include stainless steels in terephthalic acid (TA) plant oxidation liquors , nuclear fuel reprocessing , and fluegas desulphurisation (FGD) scrubber systems . 

Other reasons for investigating plutonium photochemistry in the mid-seventies included the widely known uranyl photochemistry and the similarities of the actinyl species, the exciting possibilities of isotope separation or enrichment, the potential for chemical separation or interference in separation processes for nuclear fuel reprocessing, the possible photoredox effects on plutonium in the environment, and the desire to expand the fundamental knowledge of plutonium chemistry. 

The possible application of aqueous plutonium photochemistry to nuclear fuel reprocessing probably has been the best-received justification for investigating this subject. The necessary controls of and changes in Pu oxidation states could possibly be improved by plutonium photochemical reactions that were comparable to the uranyl photochemistry. 

Bond, W. Leuze, R. "Feasibility Studies of the Partitioning of Commercial High-Level Wastes Generated in Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Annual Progress Report for FY-1974," ORNL-5012, Oak Ridge, Tennesse, January 1975. 

Research should continue on traditional separation methods. For example, there is a continuing need for more selective extraction agents for liquid-liquid and ion-exchange extractions. High-temperature processes that use liquid metals or molten salts as extraction agents should have potential in nuclear fuel reprocessing and... 

Nuclear fuel reprocessing was first undertaken with the sole purpose of recovering plutonium, for weapons use, from uranium irradiated in nuclear reactors. These reactors, called the production reactors, were dedicated to transmuting as much of the uranium as possible to plutonium. From its original scope of recovering exclusively plutonium, with no attempts to either recover or recycle uranium, nuclear fuel reprocessing has since grown into a much more sophisticated and complex operation with expanded scope. It is now called upon to separate uranium and plutonium from the fission products, and to purify these elements to levels at which these fissile materials can be conveniently recycled for reuse. The present scope also extends to fission products separation and concentration. 

Americium is released into surface water primarily from plutonium production reactors, nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, or in nuclear accidents. It may also be released from radioactive waste storage facilities. Since 241Pu decays into 241 Am,241 Am is also released as a result of 241Pu releases. Water sampling data were used to estimate effluent releases from the SRS from the plant s start up in... 

Environmental Fate. The environmental fate of americium has been extensively studied in relation to its introduction into the Irish Sea from the BNFL nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield, United Kingdom (Belot et al. 1982 Bennett 1976 Bunzl et al. 1994, 1995 Malcolm et al. 1990 McCartney et al. 1994 McKay et al. 1994a Murray et al. 1978, 1979 Pattenden and McKay 1994 Walker et al. 1986). 

D. D. Jackson, R. M. Hollen, F. R. Roensch and J. E. Rein, Analytical Chemistry of Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing, Proceedings of 21st Conference, Los Alamos, 1977, ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, 1978, pp. 151-158 C.A., 90 (1979) 13691j. 

The use of excess formic acid to destroy excess nitric acid (5M) in nuclear fuel reprocessing waste solutions at 100°C is potentially hazardous because of an induction period, high exothermicity and the evolution of large amounts of gas, mainly... 

Cochran, J. A., Smith, D. G., Magno, P. J. and Shleien, B. (1970). Investigation of Airborne Radioactive Effluent from, cm Operating Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant, Report No. BRH/NERHL-70-3 also Report No. PB-193803 (National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia). 

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