РH process as a technology for reprocessing mixed uranium–plutonium fuel from BREST-OD-300 reactor

Abstract

A technology for reprocessing mixed uranium–plutonium nitride fiel (MUPN) from BREST reactor is considered. The technology should ensure reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel with the storage time after irradiation of no more than 1 year, 10–15% content of fissile materials (FM), and burn-up of 10% of heavy atoms. The target product of the technology is a mixture of actinide oxides separated from fission products with the separation factor of ~10⁶. A PH (Pyro–Hydro) process was suggested for MUPN SNF reprocessing. It involves pyroelectrochemical fuel reprocessing with separation of U, Np, and Pu from the major fraction of fission products responsible for the heat release from the fuel and for the radiation load on process media, a series of hydrometallurgical operations for final purification of the target products (U–Pu–Np–Am), and radioactive waste (RW) management. The PH process is being developed since 2011 by the teams from the Bochvar High-Tech Research Institute of Inorganic Materials, Khlopin Radium Institute, and Research Institute of Atomic Reactors with active participation of the Leading Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Siberian Chemical Combine, and institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, primarily Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry and Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry.