Melting of Uranium-Contaminated Metal Cylinders by Electroslag Refining

Melt refining as a means of uranium decontamination of metallic wastes by electroslag refining was examined. Electroslag refining was selected because it is easy to scale up to the necessary industrial levels. Various thicknesses of iron and aluminum cylinders with uranium concentrations close to actual metallic wastes were melted by adding effective fluxes for decontamination. Thin-walled iron and aluminum cylinders with a fill ratio (electrode/mold cross-section ratio) of 0.05 could be melted, and the energy efficiency obtained was 16 to 25%. The ingot uranium concentration of the iron obtained was 0.01 to 0.015 ppm, which was close to the contamination level of the as-received specimen, while for aluminum it was 3 to 5 ppm, which was a few times higher than the as-received specimen contamination level of ∼0.9ppm. To melt a thin aluminum cylinder in a steady state, with this fill ratio of 0.05, instantaneous electrode driving response control was desired. Electroslag refining gave better decontamination and energy economization results than by a resistance furnace.