Actinides recovery from molten salt/liquid metal system by electrochemical methods

Abstract

Electrochemical methods were examined for the recovery of actinides from the electrorefiner which is used in pyrometallurgical reprocessing of spent metal fuel for fast reactors. Uranium was successfully collected at the solid steel cathode from both liquid cadmium and molten salt solvents. In electrotransport from liquid cadmium, the behavior of uranium and rare earths was as expected by a computer simulation code based on the diffusion layer model at the interface between the electrolyte and the electrodes. In electroreduction from the molten salt electrolyte, a considerable amount of uranium was reduced at the CdLi anode by direct chemical reduction with lithium, especially at a lower anodic current density. The decrease in collection efficiency of uranium due to the direct chemical reduction would be avoided by maintaining the anode potential higher than the deposition potential of uranium.