Abstract
Compression molding was carried out to enhance the meltability of uranium dendrites. Uranium dendrites were successfully compressed, increasing their bulk density more than 9 times from 1.1 to 10 g/cm3. The average bulk density was about 8.7 g/cm3 which was almost half of the material density. The compressed dendrites were favorably melted at a temperature of 1,400 °C in an induction furnace. 3 kg of the compressed dendrites were consolidated into an ingot form, showing 96.7 % yield. About 3 % of dross was formed during the melting test in the form of fine powder which was characterized as a uranium oxide. This compression molding method was compared to the supplemental charge method in which uranium dendrites were poured into a molten metal pool produced from a uranium ingot. The capacity of dendrite melting was higher in the compression molding method than in the supplemental charge method. We consider that the higher capacity can be attributed to enhanced thermal conductivity as the bulk density was increased by the compression. These results suggest the high feasibility of the compression molding method for uranium melting in a pyroprocess at an engineering scale.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Yoo JH, Lee BJ, Lee HS, Kim EH (2007) Investigation of pyroprocessing concept and its applicability as an alternative technology for conventional fuel cycle. J Korean Radioactive Waste Soc 5(4):283–295
Yoo JH, Hong KP, Lee HS (2008) A conceptual design study for a spent fuel pyroprocessing facility of a demonstration scale. J Korean Radioactive Waste Soc 6(3):233–244
Kwon SW, Kim JY, Ahn DH, Lee HS, Ahn HG (2010) A study on the evaporation of cadmium for the recovery of actinides from a liquid cathode. J Radioanl Nucl Chem 284:143–149
Kwon SW, Park KM, Ahn HG, Lee HS, Kim JG (2011) Separation of adhered salt from uranium deposits generated in electro-refiner. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 288:789–793
Kwon SW, Park KM, Jung Y, Ahn HG, Kim JG (2013) Development of an integrated sieve-crucible assembly for sequential operation of liquid salt separation and vacuum distillation. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 298:119–124
Park KM, Kwon SW, Park SB, Kim JG (2012) The evaporation characteristics of LiCl–KCl eutectic salt from uranium deposits using batch type vacuum distiller with temperature slop of each zones. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 293:857–862
Park KM, Kwon SW, Kim JG, Cho CH (2013) The solid–liquid separation characteristics of pure LiCl–KCl eutectic salt using different types of crucibles. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 295:1187–1193
Kang HS, Jang JH, Lee YS, Lee H, Kim JG (2012) Development of engineering-scale ingot casting equipment for dendritic uranium deposit. Procedia Chem 7:758–763
Jang JH, Kang HS, Lee YS, Lee H, Kim JG (2013) Development of continuous ingot casting process for uranium dendrites in pyroprocess. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 295:1743–1751
Lee YS, Cho CH, Lee YS, Kim JG, Lee HS (2010) Uranium ingot casting method with uranium deposit in a pyroprocessing. J Korean Radioactive Waste Soc 8:85–89
Lee YS, Lee HS (2011) Ingot-casting apparatus using uranium deposits. US patent: US 2011/0056647 A0056641
Brunsvold AR, Roach PD, Westphal BR (2000) Design and development of a cathode processor for electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. In: Proceedings, 8th international conference on nuclear engineering, ICONE-8702, April 2–6, 2000, Baltimore, MD, USA
Westphal BR, Price JC, Vaden D, Benedict RW (2007) Engineering-scale distillation of cadmium for actinide recovery. J Alloy Comp 444–445:561–564
Cho CH, Lee YS, Kim ES, Kim JG, Lee HS (2011) The reactivity with uranium of coating layers by the thermal spraying method. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 287:485–490
Lee SH, Cho CH, Lee YS, Lee H, Kim JG (2010) Chemical reactivity of oxide materials with uranium and uranium trichloride. Korean J Chem Eng 27:1786–1790
Totemeier TC, Mariani RD (1997) Morphologies of uranium and uranium–zirconium electrodeposits. J Nucl Mater 250:131–146
Westphal BR, Marsden KC, Price JC, Laug DV (2008) On the development of a distillation process for the electrometallurgical treatment of irradiated spent nuclear fuel. Nucl Eng Technol 40(3):163–174
Sakamura Y, Omori T, Inoue T (2008) Application of electrochemical reduction to produce metal fuel material from actinide oxides. Nucl Technol 162:169–178
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Nuclear Research & Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), in a grant funded by the Korean Government.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jang, JH., Kang, HS., Lee, HS. et al. Effects of compression molding on meltability of uranium dendrites for ingot consolidation in a pyroprocess. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 300, 1053–1059 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3012-6
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3012-6