LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS IN SUPPORT OF FLUID-BED FLUORIDE VOLATILITY PROCESSES Part XVI. The Fluorination of U02-Pu02-F-ission-product Oxide Pellets with Fluorine in a 2-inch-diameter Fluid-bed Reactor

摘要

Fluorination of uranium and plutonium oxides to the volatile hexafluoride’s (UF6 and PuF6) in a fluid-bed reactor is a major step in the Argonne National Laboratory Reference Flowsheet1 for the reprocessing of spent Zircaloy-clad U02-Pu02 power-reactor fuel by fluoride-volatility methods. This fluorination step has been studied in a Z-in.-diam fluid-bed reactor using a fluid bed of refractory alumina and simulated spent-fuel pellets containing U02, PuO2 and nonradioactive fission-product (F.P.) oxides. The objectives of this study were to determine the fluorination conditions required to minimize the retention of uranium and plutonium in the alumina bed, which is discarded as waste from the process.