ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
August 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
IAEA scientists help rainbow trout farmers in Latin America
The trout population in the western hemisphere is getting stronger through the application of nuclear science.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, as part of a technical cooperation project, is equipping laboratories and training specialists in nine countries to better deal with the infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) in rainbow trout.
M. E. Whatley, L. E. McNeese, W. L. Carter, L. M. Ferris, E. L. Nicholson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 8 | Number 2 | February 1970 | Pages 170-178
Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT70-A28623
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The molten-salt breeder reactor being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) requires continuous chemical processing of the fuel salt, 7LiF-BeF2-ThF4 (72-16-12 mole%) containing ∼0.3 mole% 233UF4. The reactor and the processing plant are planned as an integral system. The main functions of the processing plant will be to isolate 233Pa from the neutron flux and to remove the rare-earth fission products. The processing method being developed involves the selective chemical reduction of the various components into liquid bismuth solutions at ∼600°C, utilizing multistage counter-current extraction. Protactinium, which is easily separated from uranium, thorium, and the rare earths, would be trapped in the salt phase in a storage tank located between two extraction contactors and allowed to decay to 233U. Rare earths would be separated from thorium by a similar reductive extraction method; however, this operation will not be as simple as the protactinium isolation step because the rare-earth-thorium separation factors are only 1.3 to 3.5. The proposed process would employ electrolytic cells to simultaneously introduce reductant into the bismuth phase at the cathode and to return extracted materials to the salt phase at the anode. The practicability of the reductive extraction process depends on the successful development of salt-metal contactors, electrolytic cells, and suitable materials of construction.