Electricity Generation and Delivery

The University of Utah will research a pyrochemical process for efficiently converting UNF to a uranium/transuranic (U/TRU) product suitable for sodium-cooled fast reactors or molten-salt fueled reactors. This process is based on two key separations steps that can occur in a single reaction vessel: dissolution of oxide UNF in molten lithium chloride (LiCl)-potassium chloride (KCl) salt and electrochemical recovery of U/TRU metal on a cathode.

Mainstream Engineering will research a series of vacuum swing separation unit operations to separate and capture volatile radionuclides from the off-gassing of UNF aqueous reprocessing facility operations. Off-gas management and disposal accounts for roughly 13% of aqueous reprocessing systems’ capital costs and at least 10% of their operating costs for product/waste containers and utilities.

The University of North Texas (UNT), University of Michigan, Northeastern University, General Electric Research Center, and Idaho National Laboratory are researching a novel self-powered wireless differential pressure sensor for long-term, in situ, real-time monitoring of high-temperature (600 ºC) molten salt density and level for safeguarding and monitoring electrochemical processing of nuclear spent fuel. The team will use micro-electromechanical systems technology to fabricate the pressure sensor which enables measurements of great sensitivity, accuracy and high repeatability.

Orano Federal Services will develop an off-gas treatment unit that can be modified to align with the off-gases produced from the upstream AR fuel processing system. Orano will design “plug and play” treatment units that can be connected to the off-gas exhausts from: (1) a pyro-processing recycling plant treating AR UNF; (2) a plant designed to condition AR UNF in preparation for disposal; and (3) a molten salt reactor with in-line processing of its liquid fuel. This same off-gas treatment concept could also be applied on a recycling plant using an aqueous separations process.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will research a single-step technology to recycle UNF by recovering the bulk of uranium (U) and other transuranics (TRU) from fission products. After dissolution of UNF in nitric acid, U/TRU is simultaneously separated from fission products by co-crystallizing oxidized TRU with uranyl nitrate hexahydrate. The approach is inherently proliferation resistant, as plutonium-only streams cannot be achieved without implementing additional technologies.

CurioTM will research the advanced head-end processing and fluorination steps of its UNF recycling process, NuCycleTM, at the laboratory scale to derisk the NuCycle process. NuCycle is a modular, integrated, compact, and proliferation-hardened process designed to avoid production of pure plutonium (Pu) streams and dramatically reduce waste volumes compared with existing processes. NuCycle significantly reduces facility footprints, leverages well-understood chemical processes, and accommodates a variety of fuel types, including molten salts and nitride fuels.

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) will develop, produce, and test rotating packed bed contactors designed from the ground up for UNF reprocessing. The proposed PAcked Centrifugal Equipment for Radiochemical separations, PACERs, applies a centrifugal field to increase the efficiency of separations in packed beds and decrease the required packing volumes by more than 50% compared with state-of-the-art columns.

The University of Colorado, Boulder (CU-Boulder), will advance high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy using cryogenic microcalorimeter arrays, which are an emerging tool for improved nuclear material accountancy. Microcalorimeter spectrometers measure gamma-ray energy much more precisely than other gamma-ray detectors, allowing them to resolve closely spaced gamma-ray lines such as those produced by plutonium isotopes near 100 keV, and detect lines that appear only weakly above background.

Sylvatex will use a low-cost, high-yield, and simplified continuous approach to synthesize lithium iron phosphate iron (LFP) based cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) where the reactants flow and mix continuously. Sylvatex’s proprietary nanomaterial platform has already demonstrated a significant breakthrough in synthesizing cathode materials for LIBs.