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International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Charles W. Forsberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 2 | July 1980 | Pages 243-252
Nuclear Fuel Cycle | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32487
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The separation of americium, curium, and the rare earths from high-level wastes by precipitation with oxalic acid was experimentally investigated using synthetic waste solutions and rare earths as chemical stand-ins for americium and curium. Americium, curium, and the rare earths have almost identical chemical properties; hence, practical methods for recovering americium and curium from waste streams are based on two-step procedures in which the first step separates americium, curium, and the rare earth elements from other fission products. In this study, several parameters were investigated over a limited range in continuous-flow experiments (<60 cm3/min) to determine their effect on oxalate precipitation from synthetic waste solutions. Best results were obtained by mixing the waste solution and oxalic acid in one stirred-tank reactor (STR), allowing the oxalate crystals in the resulting slurry to grow in a second identical STR in series with the first reactor, and then separating the solids and liquids by settling or filtration. Yields >90% were regularly obtained. Optimum operating conditions over the range investigated were: liquid residence time per chemical reactor, ≥40 min; final oxalic acid concentration, ≥0.3 M; reactor temperature, ≤25°C; and STR No. 2, stirrer power equal to 0.18 W/ℓ. The stirrer power to the first STR was not found to be an important variable over the range investigated. The experimental results indicate that continuous precipitation of oxalates of trivalent actinides and lanthanides may be feasible. Additional experimental work will be required to determine whether continuous oxalate precipitation is feasible at the high-radiation levels associated with actual high-level wastes.