Treatment of high-level wastes from the IFR fuel cycle

The spent metal alloy fuels from an Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) will be processed in an electrochemical cell that has a molten chloride salt electrolyte and cadmium metal anode, and operates at 500 degrees C. After recovering the actinides from several batches of core and blanket fuels, the salt and cadmium will be treated to make a waste salt that contains the alkali metal, alkaline earth and halide fission products, some of the rare earths, and less than 100 n Ci/g of alpha activity. The metal wastes will contain the rest of the fission products (except T, Kr, and Xe), small amounts of uranium, and only trace amounts of transuranic elements. The reference waste form for treated salt is an aluminosilicate matrix, and the metal waste form is a corrosion-resistant metal alloy. The processes and equipment being developed to treat and immobilize the salt and metal wastes are described