Catalyzed electrolytic plutonium oxide dissolution

Catalyzed electrolytic plutonium oxide dissolution (CEPOD) was first demonstrated at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) in early 1974 in work funded by the Exxon Corporation. The work, aimed at dissolution of Pu-containing residues remaining after the dissolution of spent mixed-oxide reactor fuels, was first publicly disclosed in 1981. The process dissolves PuO2 in an anolyte containing small (catalytic) amounts of elements that form kinetically fast, strongly oxidizing ions. These are continuously regenerated at the anode. Catalysts used, in their oxidized form, include Ag2+, Ce4+, Co3+, and AmO22+. This paper reviews the chemistry involved in CEPOD and the results of its application to the dissolution of the Pu content of a variety of PuO2-containing materials such as off-standard oxide, fuels dissolution residues, incinerator ash, contaminated soils, and other scraps or wastes. Results are presented for both laboratory-scale and plant-scale dissolves