Plutonium Hexafluoride Thermal Decomposition Rates

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry process design and development Vol. 1; no. 1; pp. 47 - 51
• Main Authors: Fischer, Jack, Trevorrow, L. E, Vogel, G. J, Shinn, W. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 01.01.1962
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY; DECOMPOSITION; DISTILLATION; FLUID FLOW; FLUORIDES; FLUORINATION; FLUORINE; FUEL ELEMENTS; GAS FLOW; GASES; HEAT TREATMENTS; HEATING; HELIUM; IRRADIATION; LOSSES; OXIDES; PLUTONIUM; PLUTONIUM FLUORIDES; QUENCHING; REACTORS; RECOVERY; TEMPERATURE; THERMODYNAMICS; URANIUM; VELOCITY; VOLATILITY
• ISSN: 0196-4305; 1541-5716
• DOI: 10.1021/i260001a010

Uranium and plutonium may be recovered from nuclear reactor irradiated oxide fuel elements by fluoride volatility processing. lmportant to the process is the minimizing of loss when plutonium hexafluoride is transported through heated zones where thermal decomposition may take place. Thermal decomposition studies, both static and flow, have shown that the rate is dependent on the surface area of the plutonium tetrafluoride produced in the decomposition and the pressure of the hexafluoride. The hexafluoride can be efficiently recovered from the 500 f C zone of the fluorination reactor by rapid quenching of the effluent gas and can be transferred without difficulty by distillation or by transpiration in a fluorine or helium stream.