Methods of halogenating actinide oxide compounds and related systems
OwnerCatherine L. Riddle, Piyush Sabharwallinventors
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Abstract
A method of halogenating actinide oxide compounds comprises reacting a feedstock comprising two or more actinide oxide compounds with a fluorination reactant or with a chlorination reactant to form fluorinated actinide intermediate compounds or chlorinated actinide intermediate compounds, respectively. The fluorinated actinide intermediate compounds or the chlorinated actinide intermediate compounds are oxidized to form actinide fluoride compounds or actinide chloride compounds, respectively. Additional methods and systems are also disclosed.
Claims20
A method of halogenating actinide oxide compounds, the method comprising:
- reacting a feedstock comprising two or more actinide oxide compounds with a fluorination reactant or with a chlorination reactant to form fluorinated actinide intermediate compounds or chlorinated actinide intermediate compounds, respectively;
- and
- oxidizing the fluorinated actinide intermediate compounds or the chlorinated actinide intermediate compounds to form actinide fluoride compounds or actinide chloride compounds, respectively.
A method of halogenating actinide oxide compounds, the method comprising:
- reacting a feedstock comprising uranium oxide and plutonium oxide with a fluorination reactant or with a chlorination reactant to form:
- fluorinated uranium intermediate compounds and fluorinated plutonium intermediate compounds, or
- chlorinated uranium intermediate compounds and chlorinated plutonium intermediate compounds, respectively;
- separating fully fluorinated intermediate compounds of the fluorinated uranium intermediate compounds and the fluorinated plutonium intermediate compounds from partially fluorinated intermediate compounds and non-fluorinated intermediate compounds of the fluorinated uranium intermediate compounds and the fluorinated plutonium intermediate compounds, or
- separating fully chlorinated intermediate compounds of the chlorinated uranium intermediate compounds and the chlorinated plutonium intermediate compounds from partially chlorinated intermediate compounds and non-chlorinated intermediate compounds of the chlorinated uranium intermediate compounds and the chlorinated plutonium intermediate compounds;
- oxidizing the fully fluorinated intermediate compounds or the fully chlorinated intermediate compounds to form uranium fluoride and plutonium fluoride or uranium chloride and plutonium chloride;
- and
- recovering the uranium fluoride and plutonium fluoride or uranium chloride and plutonium chloride.
A system for halogenating actinide oxide compounds, the system comprising:
- a first reaction vessel configured to conduct a halogenation reaction of actinide oxide compounds;
- a first separator coupled to the first reaction vessel and configured to separate halogenated actinide intermediate compounds from the actinide oxide compounds;
- a second reaction vessel coupled to the first separator and configured to oxidize the halogenated actinide intermediate compounds to form halogenated actinide compounds;
- and
- a second separator coupled to the second reaction vessel and configured to recover the halogenated actinide compounds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.