Electrorefining of cerium: Part 2, Cerium as a surrogate for plutonium electrorefining studies.

摘要

The plutonium metal produced by the Direct Oxide Reduction Process is associated with other metallic impurities that have to be removed. The purification of plutonium is achieved using electrorefining process through a molten salt medium. The optimization of process parameters involved in electrorefining is required to make the process effective, in terms of the metal purity, cell efficiency and overall process reliability. Since the study of strategic and radioactive metals requires the use of a surrogate, it is important to choose surrogates that simulate the process as closely as possible. Cerium has been chosen to study the electrorefining behavior of plutonium. The differences that exist in the physico-chemical properties between the two metals have been critically examined and appropriate models have been developed to study the behavior. Cerium is a justified choice for the investigation.