NSUF 20-3084: UCl4/UCl3 speciation
The objective of this research is to establish characterization protocol and obtain accurate chemical speciation of UCl3 and UCl4 for UCl3 synthesis from chlorination of uranium. Uranium trichloride, UCl3, has found great application in spent oxide fuel dissolution for conversion of used commercial fuel to a chloride form, which facilitates further fuel management and disposition options. High purity UCl3 is the key to the spent oxide fuel dissolution technology. However, high purity UCl3 is not available commercially. Consequently, a high grade UCl3 must be synthesized in the laboratory, for which accurate quantification of relative UCl3 and UCl4 concentrations plays pivotal role for quality control.
We propose to use a combined X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) method coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The XRD and TEM techniques will provide quantitative information for UCl3 and UCl4 for various UCl3/UCl4 samples synthesized at different conditions. This proposed project directly supports our on-going Laboratory-Directed Research and Development(LDRD) project (19A39-059FP- Dissolution Phenomena of Used Nuclear Oxide Fuel in Molten Salt Systems) and will provide a fundamental understanding of UCl3 and UCl4 chemical speciation, which will help optimize both the UCl3 synthesis technology and the used fuel dissolution technology. Thus, it can further impact used fuel management and disposition strategies.
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Abstract | The objective of this research is to establish characterization protocol and obtain accurate chemical speciation of UCl3 and UCl4 for UCl3 synthesis from chlorination of uranium. Uranium trichloride, UCl3, has found great application in spent oxide fuel dissolution for conversion of used commercial fuel to a chloride form, which facilitates further fuel management and disposition options. High purity UCl3 is the key to the spent oxide fuel dissolution technology. However, high purity UCl3 is not available commercially. Consequently, a high grade UCl3 must be synthesized in the laboratory, for which accurate quantification of relative UCl3 and UCl4 concentrations plays pivotal role for quality control. We propose to use a combined X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) method coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The XRD and TEM techniques will provide quantitative information for UCl3 and UCl4 for various UCl3/UCl4 samples synthesized at different conditions. This proposed project directly supports our on-going Laboratory-Directed Research and Development(LDRD) project (19A39-059FP- Dissolution Phenomena of Used Nuclear Oxide Fuel in Molten Salt Systems) and will provide a fundamental understanding of UCl3 and UCl4 chemical speciation, which will help optimize both the UCl3 synthesis technology and the used fuel dissolution technology. Thus, it can further impact used fuel management and disposition strategies. |
| Award Announced Date | 2020-07-14T14:00:03.787 |
| Awarded Institution | None |
| Facility | None |
| Facility Tech Lead | Alina Zackrone |
| Irradiation Facility | None |
| PI | Haiyan Zhao |
| PI Email | [email protected] |
| Project Type | RTE |
| RTE Number | 3084 |