Actinides chlorides electrowinning

J. Serp (1) , E. Mendes (1) , M. Bertrand (1)

1 CEA-DES (ex-DEN) - CEA-Direction des Energies (ex-Direction de l'Energie Nucléaire)

In the frame of the European SACSESS program (Safety of ACtinides SEparation proceSSes), electrowinning of actinides chlorides was studied in LiCl-KCl (450°C) onto aluminium and tungsten cathodes in order to evaluate a salt cleaning process for spent electrorefining salts. In the electrowinning cell, chlorine gas is produced at a glassy carbon anode while actinides are recovered on the cathode leaving lanthanides (Ln) fission product in the salt phase by an appropriate control of the cathode potential. This salt cleaning procedure is developed in SACSESS to assess its potentiality and drawbacks in terms of Actinide/Lanthanide separation efficiency and residual actinide (or lanthanide) concentration in the salt after the electrolytic step.

Mots clés: Actinides; chlorides; electrowinning

Domaines: Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]; Physique Nucléaire Théorique [nucl-th]

J. Serp, E. Mendes, M. Bertrand. Actinides chlorides electrowinning. Global 2015, Sep 2015, Paris, France. ⟨cea-02506813⟩