Studies with Ferrous Sulfamate and Alternate Reductants for 2nd Uranium Cycle

A wide range of miniature mixer-settler tests were conducted to determine the source of iron and sulfur contamination in the uranium product stream (''1EU'') of H Canyon's 2nd Uranium Cycle. The problem was reproduced on the laboratory scale mixer-settlers by changing the feed location of ferrous sulfamate from stage D4 to stage D1. Other process variables effected no change. It was later determined that ferrous sulfamate (FS) solids had plugged the FS line to stage D4, causing FS to backup a ventline and enter the Canyon process at stage D1. Pluggage was almost certainly due to precipitation of FS solids during extended process downtime. During the search for the root cause, tests showed that FS solids were quite small (1-10 mm), and a portion of them could bypass the current Canyon prefilter (3-mm). Also, additional tests were done to find an alternate means of reducing and thereby removing plutonium and neptunium from the uranium product. These tests showed that FS was a more effective reductant than either ascorbic acid or a hydroxylamine nitrate (HAN) / dilute FS combination