Irradiated fuel from nuclear reactors is reprocessed to recover the unused uranium and return it to the fuel cycle. In the aqueous process used at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP), the spent fuel elements are dissolved in acid. The dissolver product solution is then adjusted to proper salting strength, and extracted with an organic extractant to recover the unused uranium. The waste, consisting of fission products and the alloying and structural materials in the fuel element, is finally calcined to a solid for safe interim storage. Due to the corrosive nature of reagents and radioactivity in the solutions, selection of materials is an important part of process development. This paper describes corrosion studies of high nickel alloys in solutions which will be encountered during reprocessing of fuel from the Core 2, Seed 1 and Seed 2, of the Shippingport Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) at ICPP. The PWR process presents special problems in material selection because hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid, both singly and in mixtures, will be required to dissolve these fuel elements.

Subject
Weld attack, Fluorides, Acid concentration, Corrosion rate, Nickel based alloys, Zirconium, Metal coupons, Dissolution, Nitric acid, Solutions, Dissolvers, Hydrofluoric acid, Alloys
© 1975 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1975
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.