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Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

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3.10<br />

purified for recycle at a fuel reprocessing plant (FRP). The major process steps at the<br />

FRP, excluding waste treatment operations, which are described in Chapter 4, are:<br />

* Underwater storage <strong>of</strong> spent fuel awaiting processing.<br />

* Recovery and purification <strong>of</strong> the uranium and plutonium by solvent extraction using the<br />

Purex process. The reference plant, described in DOE/ET-0028, Section 3.2, operates<br />

300 days per year to process 2000 MTHM/yr <strong>of</strong> spent fuel. The spent fuel elements are<br />

chopped into short sections so that the contained fuel can be dissolved in nitric<br />

acid. The uranium and plutonium are then extracted into an organic solvent phase<br />

containing tributyl phosphate (TBP), leaving the bulk <strong>of</strong> the fission products in the<br />

nitric acid solution (the high-level waste). The uranium and plutonium are sepa-<br />

rated and the remaining fission products removed in subsequent solvent-extraction pro-<br />

cess cycles.<br />

* Conversion <strong>of</strong> plutonium to a solid at the FRP by precipitating plutonium as an<br />

oxalate, which is then separated and calcined to Pu02.<br />

* Conversion <strong>of</strong> the uranium from a nitrate solution to UF 6 at the FRP by calcining<br />

the uranium nitrate to U0 3 , reducing the UO 3 to UO 2 with hydrogen, then converting<br />

the UO 2 to UF 4 by hydr<strong>of</strong>luorination with HF, and finally converting the UF 4 to<br />

UF 6 with fluorine. (UF 6 is the form required by the enrichment plant.)<br />

Over 99% <strong>of</strong> the spent fuel fission products and about 0.5% <strong>of</strong> the uranium and plutonium<br />

would be contained in the FRP high-level waste. Substantial quantities <strong>of</strong> a variety <strong>of</strong> TRU<br />

ENRICHED U02 FUEL-,<br />

ENICHED 00 E<br />

NCE<br />

POWEN R - mWATER ENUCLRAR B BASIN - REPROCESSING<br />

URANIUM TO<br />

REENRI -- CHMENT<br />

POWER SPENT FUEL STORAGE (a) REACTOR<br />

PLUTONIUM<br />

OXIDE<br />

NON-TRU NON-TRU<br />

WASTES WASTES HLW AND<br />

TRU WASTES<br />

MIXED-OXIDE FUEL MIXED-OXIDE<br />

NATURAL U02--- FUEL FABRICATION<br />

TRU WASTES - ISOLATION<br />

(a)WATER BASIN STORAGE IN EITHER REACTOR BASINS, AFR FACILITIES OR FRP BASINS<br />

FIGURE 3.2.2 Uranium-Plutonium Recycle Fuel Cycle

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