Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology

LCC (Liquid cadmium cathode) is used for electrowinning in pyroprocessing to recover uranium and transuranic elements simultaneously. It is one of the core technologies in pyroprocessing with higher proliferation resistance than a wet reprocessing because LCC-cell does not separate TRU from uranium. The crucible which holds the LCC is technically important because it should be nonconducting material to prevent deposition of metallic elements on the crucible outer surface. The chemical stability is also crucial factor to choose crucible material due to the strong reactivities of TRU and possible incorporation of Li metal during the operation. In this study, the chemical stabilities of four kinds of representative ceramic materials such as Al2O3, MgO, Yl2O3 and BeO were thermodynamically and experimentally evaluated at 500oC with simulated LCC. The contact angle of LCC on ceramic materials was measured as function of time to predict chemical reactivity. All2O3 showed poorest chemical stability and the pores in BeO contributed to a decreases in contact angle. MgO and Y2O3 have superior chemical stability among the materials.

Keywords

Pyroprocess,LCC (Liquid Cadmium Cathode),Thermodynamic stability,Chemical stability,Rare-earth elements