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The GNEP Coupled End-to-End (CETE) Research, Development, and
Demonstration Project: Overview of the CETE Testbed Capabilities and
Operations
Presentation · October 2008
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4183.4007
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The GNEP Coupled End-to-End (CETE) Research, Development, and Demonstration Project: Overview
of the CETE Testbed Capabilities and Operations
P. D. Bailey, J. L. Binder, G. L. Bell, D. E. Benker, L. K. Felker, R. T. Jubin, B. B. Spencer, and
T. P. Powers
Oak Ridge National Laboratory: P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6384
[email protected]The U. S. Department of Energy is conducting a complete, coupled end-to-end demonstration of advanced
nuclear fuel reprocessing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in support of the Global Nuclear
Energy Partnership (GNEP). The testbed consists of a set of small-scale reprocessing operations that
incorporate spent fuel receipt, characterization, head-end processing (fuel shearing and voloxidation),
aqueous separations, conversion of fission product wastes to solid forms and conversion of actinides to
solid forms for fuel fabrication. The testbed is configured to process multikilogram quantities of light
water reactor spent fuel. The processing equipment is located within two facilities that are specially
designed to handle highly radioactive materials, the Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory (IFEL) and
the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC). This paper provides descriptions of facility
capabilities used to perform spent fuel reprocessing activities.
INTRODUCTION Primary functions of the IFEL are the receipt and
examination of irradiated materials (see Fig 1).
The capabilities for performing spent fuel Examination and testing capabilities include
handling, reprocessing, and product conversions metrology, metallographic sample preparation,
are located within the Irradiated Fuels optical microscopy, scanning electron
Examination Laboratory (IFEL) and the microscopy/microprobe and gamma
Radiochemical Engineering Development Center spectrometry. Discussed below are the
(REDC) of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory applications of these capabilities to support head-
(ORNL). The major activities performed at the end fuel processing demonstrations.
IFEL are focused on head-end processing steps
and include receipt and inspection of spent fuel,
fuel segmenting, and voloxidation. Activities at
the REDC are focused on aqueous processing
and include fuel dissolution, off-gas treatment,
separations, product conversions, and pellet
fabrication for irradiation testing.
IRRADIATED FUEL EXAMINATION
LABORATORY (IFEL) CAPABILITIES
Fig 1. IFEL Hot Cell Operations Area
The IFEL was designed and constructed for
metallurgical and metallographic studies, IFEL Process Equipment
primarily, the development and examination of
nuclear fuel materials. Operations have included Key components of the head-end processing of
examinations of fuel types including those from spent nuclear fuel are the receipt of fuel rods
the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), the Oak (that have been extracted from full assemblies at
Ridge Research Reactor (ORR), Peach Bottom other off-site facilities), characterization,
Reactor Core 1, light-water reactor (LWR) fuels, shearing, voloxidation of the sheared fuel rods
high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), and the capture of volatile species released
coated-particle fuels, liquid-metal fast breeder during the voloxidation process. Figure 2
reactor fuels, and the Keuring van depicts the capabilities for a hot cell to receive
Electrotechnische Materialen (KEMA) full length fuel rods by means of the NAC-LWT
Suspension Test Reactor fuel. cask.
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The REDC was built in the mid-1960s to serve
as the production, storage, and distribution center
for the heavy element research program of the
United States Department of Energy (DOE).
Target rods containing americium and curium
are remotely fabricated in Building 7920,
irradiated in the adjacent High Flux Isotope
Reactor (HFIR), and then processed in the hot
Fig 2. IFEL NAC-LWT Cask cells for the separation and purification of the
heavy actinide elements (Bk, Cf, Es, and Fm).
The voloxidizer (see Fig 3) is scaled to process Special target assemblies that had been irradiated
5 kg batches of heavy metal fuel. The design of at Savannah River Site were also processed in
the voloxidizer allows for continuous gas flow the hot cells for the separation and recovery of
through the system to track oxygen usage and several hundred grams of high-purity 243Am,
242
capture volatilized fission products. The Pu and 244Cm. In addition, a variety of
modular construction of the voloxidizer allows Solvent Extraction development programs for
for remote hot cell operations, maintenance and reprocessing LWR and FBR fuels have been
repair. performed in the facility from the late 1970s to
the mid 1980s. The heart of this capability are
the Solvent Extraction Test Mixer Settlers (see
Fig 5), tanks, and other specialized equipment
for performing aqueous separations. This
equipment is discussed in more detail below.
Fig 3. IFEL Voloxidizer
RADIOCHEMCIAL ENGINEERING
DEVELOPMENT CENTER (REDC)
CAPABILITIES
The design and capabilities of the REDC make it
a useful demonstration platform for performing
small-scale reprocessing operations. The heart
of the facility is a bank of nine heavily shielded
Hot Cells with a Control / Operator room located
outside the cells (see Fig 4). The traditional Fig 5. Mixer Settler System
activities performed in the facility focused on the
recovery and purification of transuranium REDC Process Equipment
elements and the development of processing and
separations flowsheets. Spent fuel separation requires several integral
process equipment components operating in a
remote hot cell environment. The key
component is the solvent extraction equipment
which includes three banks of a 16-stage mixer-
settler. This equipment is designed for
continuous solvent extraction operations and can
process fuel at the rate of several kg of heavy
metal per day.
Fig. 4. REDC Control Room
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The in-cell process equipment was designed for A dry pyrochemical voloxidation process was
flexibility and remote maintenance. Process performed at ~600°C in a temporary quartz glass
lines from ¼ inch to ¾ inch tubing or ¼ inch to tube furnace (intact oxide in cladding) and a
¾ inch pipe may be installed or removed using stainless-steel box furnace (dislodged oxide
the remotely operated TRU Disconnect (see Fig pieces) (see Fig 8).
6). The TRU disconnect, named for the
Transuranium (TRU) Processing Plant for which
it was designed, compresses metal male and
female ferrules together to form a leak tight seal.
Fig 8. Box Furnace with Stainless Steel
Voloxidation Can
Fig. 6. TRU Disconnect The voloxidizer off-gas passed through a series
of sorption traps to remove tritium and carbon-
Repairs can be made on entire rack systems by 14, while allowing the gaseous xenon and
transferring the equipment rack from the hot cell krypton to be vented. During the voloxidation
to a large Decontamination Glovebox (see Fig 7) process, the oxide fuel was converted to a finely
via a Transfer Case. The Decontamination divided, predominantly U O powder which was
3 8
Glovebox is roughly the same size as one of the easily separated from the empty Zircaloy
hot cell cubicles to allow for “hands-on” repairs cladding hulls by a simple screening operation.
and testing to be performed on in-cell equipment
or entire equipment racks. The oxide fuel powder was dissolved (two batch
operations) in nitric acid solution, and the
dissolver solution was then filtered through a
deep bed of diatomaceous earth to remove
residual undissolved solids.
For future dissolutions of the voloxidized fuel, it
will be important to capture volatile gases such
as Xenon, Krypton, Carbon-14, and Iodine-129.
A new Dissolver Off-Gas capture rack in REDC
will allow for capture and analysis of the volatile
gases (see Fig 9).
Fig. 7 Decontamination Glovebox
CETE CAMPAIGN 1 OPERATIONS
The primary purpose of Campaign 1 was to
exercise the facility, conduct an equipment
checkout, and ensure operator training.
Campaign 1 was performed using ~ 4 kg of
Dresden LWR fuel. The spent fuel rods had
been cut into 1- to 2-inch lengths in the 1980s by
a single-pin shear.
Fig 9. Dissolver Off-Gas Capture Rack
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The clarified solution from the dissolution was neptunium partial partitioning process was
adjusted to an acidity of 2.7 M nitric acid with a operated to produce ~13% minor actinides, as
heavy metal concentration of ~230 grams/liter. A intended. However, a number of needed
total of 11 liters of solution was fed to the first improvements for future process development
separations process, which was similar to the were identified by the CETE process
UREX+ co-decontamination process previously methodology. These include (1) the need for
tested in 2003. [1] However, in the Dresden development of a powder feed device to enable a
campaign, some of the uranium was back- continuous dissolution process to be used, (2) the
extracted with the Pu-Np stream in order to make need for application of in-line process
a mixed U-Pu-Np product. The approximate Pu monitoring and control to maintain steady state
fraction in product was 13 %. The technetium- performance of the solvent extraction processes
99 fission product was co-extracted and co- during long-duration operations, and (3) the need
stripped with the uranium and was separated in a for a recovery/recycle process for the
subsequent anion exchange process. The complexant chemicals used in the TALSPEAK
U/Pu/Np material underwent a reductant process, and/or a more simple process for minor
destruction to remove residual hydroxylamine actinide recovery to replace the TRUEX-
nitrate, then the material was transferred to the TASLSPEAK processes.
Modified Direct Denitration (MDD) unit (see Fig
10) for conversion to powder suitable for pellet
fabrication tests. [2] REFERENCES
1. E.D. COLLINS, D.E. BENKER, B.B.
SPENCER, P. BARON, B. DINH, W.D.
BOND, and D.O. CAMPBELL,
“Development of the UREX+ Co-
Decontamination Solvent Extraction
Process,” Proceedings of the Global 2003
International Conference, New Orleans, LA,
(November 2003).
2. L,K. FELKER, R.J. VEDDER, R.R.
BRUNSON and E.D. COLLINS,
“Plutonium and Neptunium Conversion
Fig 10. MDD Glovebox Unit using Modified Direct Denitration,”
Actinide and Fission Product Partitioning
The remaining minor actinides, predominantly and Transmutation Eighth Information
americium and about 25% of the neptunium, was Exchange Meeting, Las Vegas, NV
recovered from the UREX+ waste raffinate by a (November 2004).
two-step solvent extraction process 3. C. PEREIRA, G.F. VANDEGRIFT, M.C.
[Transuranium Extraction (TRUEX) and REGALBUTO, A. BAKEL, D. BOWERS,
Trivalent Actinide-Lanthanide Separations by A.V. GELIS, A.S. HEBDEN, L.E.
Phosphoric-reagent Extraction from Aqueous MAGGOS, D. STEPINSKI, Y. TSAI, and
Complexes (TALSPEAK)] using process J. J. LAIDLER, “Lab-Scale Demonstration
conditions determined in a previous experiment of the UREX+1a Process Using Spent Fuel,”
at Argonne National Laboratory. [3] The Proceedings of WM’07 Symposium,
TRUEX raffinate waste stream was treated Tucson, AZ, (February 2007).
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at Idaho National Laboratory [4] to partition the C.A. MCGRATH, D.H. MEIKRANTZ,
highly radioactive cesium and strontium fission B.J. MINCER, D.R. PETERMAN, and
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(FPEX): Development of a Novel Solvent
for the Simultaneous Separation of
RESULTS Strontium and Cesium from Acidic
Solutions,” Solvent Extraction and Ion
The TRU actinides separations process steps Exchange, 23: 449-461, (2005).
were completed with only 0.6% loss to waste
streams. Moreover, the uranium-plutonium-
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