| 摘要 |
<p>The invention provides a process for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, the process comprising the steps of: (a) electrorefining the metal to produce a liquid metal cathode comprising the liquid metal alloyed with actinide or fission product metal, or actinide/fission product metal dendrites encased in the liquid metal; (b) treating the actinide or fission product metal or actinide/fission product metal dendrites encased in the liquid metal with nitrate in order to provide an actinide nitrate salt or oxide and to isolate and partition chloride ions; (c) dissolution of the actinide nitrate salt or oxide to provide an aqueous process stream; and (d) extracting the resulting aqueous process stream with an organic phase and isolating reprocessed fuel from said organic phase. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the spent nuclear fuel comprises oxide fuel and the process comprises the additional step of electrochemically treating the spent nuclear fuel in a molten salt electrolyte to produce a metal from the oxide spent fuel, the additional step being carried out prior to step (a) of the above process. The invention provides a flexible, simplified process for the reprocessing of a wide range of spent nuclear fuels, including those produced by Generation IV and other reactor systems, and it may also be applied to the treatment of legacy wastes.</p> |
