Evaluation of UO2 electrolytic deposit on cathode in molten salt electrolysis

The molten-salt electrolytic cell used for the oxide electro-refining in pyrochemical reprocessing has several unique features; the CCIM (Cold Crucible Induction Melting) technique was introduced against vigorous corrosion by Cl2 gas, etc. and a circular crucible was adopted in order to insure safety of critical state by controlling a cell shape. However, the crucible shape becomes narrower in width and deeper in depth as a result of the request in design that a cell shape must be controlled and fast speed is desired for processing. Therefore, in the development of cell, configuration of electrodes must be further examined to prevent a segregation of deposits and to use effectively electrode surfaces. In the present study, the segregation behavior of UO2 deposits was confirmed by using U and a reconstruction of results was attempted using calculation codes. (M.H.)