Behavior of Fission Products in Sulfide Reprocessing Process

Abstract

For the recovery of nuclear materials from spent fuel with more effective and convenient methods comparing with conventional process, the sulfurization and dissolution behavior of fission products, such as rare-earths, alkali, alkalline-earth and platinum group elements were studied. The sulfurization experiment was carried out using tracer doped U₃O₈. The samples were reacted with CS₂ at temperatures from 573 to 773 K for 1 hour followed by dissolution with 1M nitric acid solution for 1 hour at 323 K. The dissolution ratio for each element was obtained by α- and γ-ray spectrometry. The alkali and alkaline-earth elements show higher dissolution ratios as well as trivalent lanthanide elements. On the other hand, U, Zr, Ce, and Ru showed lower dissolution ratios. These results were in good agreement with those expected from the thermodynamic consideration.