Electrorefining of metallic U-Zr and U-Pu-Zr-alloy fuel onto solid aluminium cathodes in molten chlorides

Electrorefining in molten LiCl-KCl using solid aluminium cathodes is considered as a promising pyrochemical method for reprocessing metallic nuclear fuel, represented by U-Zr and U-Pu-Zr alloys in this study. Actinide-aluminium (An-Al) alloys are produced on the cathode during the process, forming a dense deposit. The maximum loading of the electrode with the actinides as a function of the deposition conditions was investigated as were the selectivity and efficiency of the process. The electrodes were characterised by SEM-EDX analysis and 'gamma'-spectroscopy. (authors)