Direct Dissolution of Used Nuclear Fuel in PUREX Solvent: Review and Flowsheet Development

This study explores the potential benefit to flowsheets for recovering actinides from used nuclear fuel of a process simplification in the head-end portion. The process simplification replaces acid dissolution of used nuclear fuel with dissolution in the tri-butyl phosphate solvent used in the industrially mature Plutonium Uranium Reduction Extraction flowsheet. Though characterized by considerable uncertainty, simplified flowsheets appear feasible and potentially offer significant reductions in process complexity, nitrate inventory, secondary liquid effluent generation, and plant footprint.