Electrochemical transient techniques for determination of uranium and rare-earth metal separation coefficients in molten salts

Abstract

The main step in the pyrometallurgical recycling process of spent nuclear fuel is a molten salt electrorefining. The knowledge of separation coefficients of actinides (U, Np, Pu and Am) and rare-earth metals (Y, La, Ce, Nd and Gd) is very important for this step. Usually the separation coefficients are evaluated from the formal standard potentials of metals in melts containing their own ions, i.e. values obtained by potentiometric method. Electrochemical experiments were carried out at 723–823 K in order to estimate separation coefficients in LiCl–KCl eutectic melt containing uranium and lanthanum trichlorides. The electrochemical behaviour of UCl 3 in LiCl–KCl melt was studied by different electrochemical methods. The diffusion coefficients of U(III) were determined by linear sweep voltammetry, chronopotentiometry and chronoamperometry. The standard rate constants of charge transfer for electroreduction of uranium, U(III) + 3e − → U, were calculated by the impedance spectroscopy method. The values of constants testify that electroreduction of U(III) to U is mainly controlled by the rate of charge transfer. La(III) discharge on uranium electrode was also investigated. It was shown that for the calculation of uranium and lanthanum separation coefficients it is necessary to determine the voltammetric peak potentials of U(III) and La(III), their concentration in the melt and the kinetic parameters relating to U(III) discharge such as transfer and diffusion coefficients, and standard rate constants of charge transfer.