Method for making a Pellet-type LiCl-KCl-UCl3 SALT

A pyrometallurgical partitioning technology to recover uranium from a uranium-TRU mixture which is the product material of electroreduction system is being developed at KAERI since 1997. In the process, the reactor of an electrorefiner consists of the electrodes and the molten chloride salt which is LiCl-KCl-UCl3. The role of uranium chloride salt (UCl3) is to stabilize the initial cell voltage between electrodes in the electrorefining reactor. The process to produce a uranium chloride salt includes two steps: a reaction process of gaseous chlorine with liquid cadmium to form CdCl2 occurring in a Cd layer, followed by a process to produce UCl3 by the reaction of U in the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt and CdCl2 The apparatus for producing UCl3 consists of a chlorine gas generator, a uranium chlorinator, a Cd distiller, the pelletizer, and a off-gas and a dry scrubber. The temperature of the reactants is maintained at about 600 .deg. C. After the reaction is completed in the uranium chlorinator, The salt products is transferred to the Cd distiller to decrease residual Cd concentration in the salts, and then salt is transferred to the mould of a pelletizer by a transfer system to make a pellet type salt