PROCESSING OF IRRADIATED NUCLEAR REACTOR FUEL

摘要

1330535 Processing spent nuclear fuel UNITED KINGDOM ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY 30 June 1971 [7 July 1970] 33028/70 Heading G6R In the extraction of fissile material from a nitric acid solution of irradiated nuclear fuel by means of tributyl phosphate (TBP) in an inert organic diluent, the concentration of TBP in the diluent is less than 7 vol. per cent and the organic phase is backwashed with aqueous sulphuric acid to return the fissile material to an aqueous phase. The cycle may be repeated using 25 vol. per cent TBP. Uranium-plutonium fuel or uranium fast reactor fuel may be treated. Easier separation of phases and a higher fission product decontamination factor are obtained compared with processes using higher TBP concentrations.