Performance evaluation of a high throughput electrorefiner for a spent metallic nuclear fuel

Assessment of a high throughput electrorefiner for a spent metallic fuel was carried out by using a commercial computational fluid dynamic code, CFX and the performance was validated experimentally. An electrorefiner equipped with a graphite cathode bundle was designed to continuously recover a high purity uranium product without a noble metal contamination. The performance of the process for a decontamination of a noble metal in a uranium product was validated experimentally as a function of the process parameters such as the rotation speeds of the stirrer and the anode basket. The distribution of the electric field and the electro deposition behavior were also evaluated numerically and an optimum electrode configuration was suggested. It was found that the electrode configuration and product processing devices were reasonable for an efficient processing of a spent unclear fuel