Atomization and Transport of Radionuclides in Plasma for Ion-Plasma Deactivation Technology for NPP Equipment and SNF Processing

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the actual problems of nuclear energy: deactivation of nuclear power plants (NPPs), hot cells, equipment for isotope separation, and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) to effectively close the nuclear fuel cycle. The authors have proposed the ion-plasma “dry” technology developed to solve these problems. The operating parameters of the ion-plasma technology for deactivation and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel have been obtained: inert gas pressure of 0.1–1 atm., inert carrier gas flow rate of 1–10 m/s, and current density of 1–5 A/cm² at the operating voltage of 100–1000 V. Using the example of SNF processing, the ranges of partial pressures and deposition temperatures of SNF elements during the process of its separation according to elemental composition have been calculated. Because of the difference in the condensation temperature ranges of each spent fuel element, purification of uranium and plutonium from most fission products of MOX and MNUP spent fuel with a purity of at least 99% has been demonstrated.