Abstract
Closing the nuclear fuel cycle requires recycling used nuclear fuel. Additional waste is generated during recycling due to fission products accumulating in processing salts (LiCl-KCl). Reducing the waste generated during recycling entails recovering alkaline-earth fission products (Ba2+/Sr2+) from molten chlorides with a minimal loss of bulk electrolyte constituents (Li+/K+). Electrochemical codeposition of Ba2+/Li+ and Sr2+/Li+ into liquid metal (Bi, Sb, Sn, and Pb) and alloy (Bi-Sb) electrodes was investigated in LiCl-KCl-(BaCl2, SrCl2) electrolytes at 500 and 650 °C. For the pure Bi (500 °C) and Sb (650 °C) electrodes, the greatest percentage of charge was used to deposit Ba and Sr. Effective recovery of Ba/Sr by liquid Bi and Sb electrodes is supported via experimentally determined activity values of Ba/Sr in Bi and Sb. Alloying Sb with Bi increased Ba recovery but decreased Sr recovery, compared to the recovery using a liquid Bi electrode. The results suggest that alkaline-earth fission products can be recovered from molten chlorides using liquid metal electrodes via electrochemical separation, thereby providing a method to reduce the generation of nuclear waste from nuclear fuel recycling.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 14818-14824 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 39 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 5 2020 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Chemistry
- Environmental Chemistry
- General Chemical Engineering
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment