Efficacy of a Solution-Based Approach for Making Sodalite Waste Forms for an Oxide Reduction Salt Utilized in the Reprocessing of Used Uranium Oxide Fuel

April 1, 2015

Journal Article

Efficacy of a Solution-Based Approach for Making Sodalite Waste Forms for an Oxide Reduction Salt Utilized in the Reprocessing of Used Uranium Oxide Fuel

Abstract

This paper describes various approaches for making sodalite with a LiCl-Li2O oxide reduction salt used to recover uranium from used oxide fuel. The approaches include sol-gel and solution-based synthesis processes. As-made products were mixed with 5 and 10 mass% of a Na2O-B2O3-SiO2 glass binder and these, along with product without a binder, were heated using either a cold-press-and-sinter method or hot uniaxial pressing. The results demonstrate the limitation of sodalite yield due to the fast intermediate reactions between Na+ and Cl- to form halite in solution and Li2O and SiO2 to form lithium silicates (e.g., Li2SiO3 or Li2Si2O5) in the calcined and sintered pellets. The results show that pellets can be made with high sodalite fractions (~92 mass%) and low porosities using a solution-based approach and this LiCl-Li2O salt.

Revised: July 29, 2015 | Published: April 1, 2015

Citation

Riley B.J., D.A. Pierce, S.M. Frank, J. Matyas, and C.A. Burns. 2015. Efficacy of a Solution-Based Approach for Making Sodalite Waste Forms for an Oxide Reduction Salt Utilized in the Reprocessing of Used Uranium Oxide Fuel. Journal of Nuclear Materials 459. PNNL-SA-103835. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.09.042