Guillermo D DelCul

Complete Non-Radioactive Operability Tests for Cladding Hull Chlorination

Non-radioactive operability tests were made to test the metal chlorination reactor and condenser and their accessories using batch chlorinations of non-radioactive cladding samples and to identify optimum operating practices and components that need further modifications prior to installation of the equipment into the hot cell for tests on actual used nuclear fuel (UNF) cladding. The operability tests included (1) modifications to provide the desired heating and reactor temperature profile; and (2) three batch chlorination tests using, respectively, 100, 250, and 500 g of cladding. During the batch chlorinations, metal corrosion of the equipment was assessed, pressurization of the gas inlet was examined and the best method for maintaining solid salt product transfer through the condenser was determined. Also, additional accessing equipment for collection of residual ash and positioning of the unit within the hot cell were identified, designed, and are being fabricated.

Reaction System Design for NO2 Oxidation of Used Nuclear Fuel for the FY17 Hot Test

A dry pretreatment process based on the oxidation of used nuclear fuel to convert it to a fine powder is being studied for the removal and capture of tritium and iodine before subsequent processing. The process converts oxide fuel into a fine powder at low temperature using NO2/O2 mixtures. The form of the powder product can be selected to be U3O8, UO3, or a nitrate by adjusting the processing conditions. All the fundamental tenets of the process have been successfully demonstrated as a proof of principle, and many aspects have been corroborated multiple times at laboratory scale. The present thrust is to develop the process to a technology-readiness level sufficient to evaluate and estimate the cost of an engineering-scale implementation. A previous roadmap analysis of the implementation determined that the most desirable approach would be based on kilogram-scale experiments using real fuel in parallel with multi-kg testing of prototype systems using surrogate material. Following the planned approach, kilogram-scale experiments will be conducted in FY 2017. This report describes the primary reaction system designs and the equipment that has been fabricated. Details related to instrumentation, data acquisition, and controls have been previously reported.

Zirconium Recycle Test Equipment for Hot Cell Operations

The equipment components and assembly support work were modified for optimized, remote hot cell operations to complete this milestone. The modifications include installation of a charging door, Swagelok connector for the off-gas line between the reactor and condenser, and slide valve installation to permit attachment/replacement of the product salt collector bottle.