Recovery of RE-less U from U/RE ingot by electrochemical oxidation process

SFR fuel is majorly composed of U and Pu, where the amount of impurities such as RE (rare earth) needs to be controlled as low as possible, for example, below 1% of the fuel composition. In order to decrease RE amount in the U/Pu/RE mixture obtained from LCC electrowinning, some treatments should be done. In this study, selective oxidation behavior of RE components in U/RE ingot was studied using an electrochemical process. Selective oxidation of RE elements from the U/RE metal ingot was studied in this paper using electrochemical process. Constant potential of -1.7V was applied between anode and cathode, where the potential value corresponds to standard potentials between actinide and rare earth materials. When the current values approached to nearly 0 mA, the reaction was finished. It is confirmed from the EPMA analysis that only U part of the U/RE ingot was remained. The metal recovered to the zinc cathode was obtained through the distillation process and it is being chemically analyzed in the KAERI analytical laboratory