Electrochemical Deposition of Fission Products into Liquid Metals from Molten Salts

摘要

Electrochemical properties of fission products, such as alkaline-earth and rare-earth elements, are crucial for their recovery from the process electrolyte (e.g., LiCl-KCl) utilized in pyrochemical recycling of used nuclear fuel. According to the standard electrode potentials of pure chlorides (Fig. 1), Sr and Ba elements are electrochemically more active than the process salt (LiCI-KCl). Thus, these elements are not recoverable by electrochemical processes due to the high stability of Ba~(2+) and Sr~(2+) ions in the electrolyte, compared to Li~+ and K~+ ions. Departing from the standard redox potentials, this study presents a unique opportunity to separate alkaline-earth fission products from molten salts into liquid metals such as Bi, Pb, and Sb.