Electrolytic reduction of 1 kg-UO₂ using a graphite anode

Developing anode materials has been a critical issue of electrolytic reduction in pyroprocessing because of the extremely high price of Pt, which is the most common anode material. Accumulation of Li₂CO₃, a major byproduct in the C anode system, can be prevented, enabling the repeatable use of LiCl electrolyte. Cl₂ gas is expected to be dominantly generated at the anode surface during the reaction to eliminate the Li₂CO₃ byproduct. In this study, a larger-scale electrolytic reduction experiment was conducted using 1 kg of UO₂ pellets with graphite as the C anode. An electrolytic reduction of 1 kg-UO₂ was conducted using a graphite anode. The graphite anode can transfer a 7-times higher current to the Pt anode in the same reactor. UO₂ was electrochemically converted into metallic U after the reaction, indicating the feasibility of the graphite anode at the pilot-scale. However, further investigation should be made, such as increasing the conversion rate, and developing anti-corrosion techniques for a scale-up