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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Hash Hashemian: Visionary leadership
As Dr. Hashem M. “Hash” Hashemian prepares to step into his term as President of the American Nuclear Society, he is clear that he wants to make the most of this unique moment.
A groundswell in public approval of nuclear is finding a home in growing governmental support that is backed by a tailwind of technological innovation. “Now is a good time to be in nuclear,” Hashemian said, as he explained the criticality of this moment and what he hoped to accomplish as president.
Olivier Conocar, Nicolas Douyere, Jean-Paul Glatz, Jérôme Lacquement, Rikard Malmbeck, Jérôme Serp
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 153 | Number 3 | July 2006 | Pages 253-261
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE06-A2611
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Thermodynamic calculations have shown that aluminum is the most promising metallic solvent or support for the separation of actinides (An) from lanthanides (Ln). In molten fluoride salt, the technique of reductive extraction is under development in which the separation is based on different distributions of An and Ln between the salt and metallic Al phases. In this process molten aluminum alloy acts as both a reductant and a solvent into which the actinides are selectively extracted. It was demonstrated that a one-stage reductive extraction process, using a concentrated solution, allows a recovery of more than 99.3% of Pu and Am. In addition excellent separation factors between Pu and Ln well above 103 were obtained. In molten chloride media similar separations are developed by constant current electrorefining between a metallic alloy fuel (U60Pu20-Zr10Am2Nd3.5Y0.5Ce0.5Gd0.5) and an Al solid cathode. In a series of demonstration experiments, almost 25 g of metallic fuel was reprocessed and actinides collected as An-Al alloys on the cathode. Analysis of the An-Al deposits confirmed that an excellent An/Ln separation (An/Ln mass ratio = 2400) had been obtained. These results show that Al is a very promising material to be used in pyrochemical reprocessing of actinides.
