Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
PUREX (plutonium uranium reduction extraction) is a chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. [7] PUREX is the de facto standard aqueous nuclear reprocessing method for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from used nuclear fuel ( spent nuclear fuel , or irradiated nuclear fuel).
List of US Reprocessing Plants Name Location Fuel Type Procedure Status Reprocessing capacity (tHM/yr) Construction start date Operation date Closure Purpose Hanford Site: Washington: REDOX, PUREX: Shut down 1944 1988 Military Savannah River Site: South Carolina: LWR PUREX: Shut down 5000 1952 2002 Civil West Valley LWR PUREX: Shut down 300 ...
In nuclear reprocessing plants about 96% of spent nuclear fuel is recycled back into uranium-based and mixed-oxide MOX fuels. One of the main method for the separation of spent fuel is the PUREX process, which separates the plutonium and other transuranics from the remainder of the spent fuel. The uranium and plutonium are separated in turn in ...
It is also used in nuclear reprocessing as part of the PUREX process. A 15–40% (usually about 30%) solution of tributyl phosphate in kerosene or dodecane is used in the liquid–liquid extraction (solvent extraction) of uranium, plutonium, and thorium from spent uranium nuclear fuel rods dissolved in nitric acid. Liquid extraction can also be ...
Nuclear reprocessing is primarily done to remove undesirable parts of the spent fuel and either re-use the other parts or store them as waste. Reprocessed uranium for example, which is derived from spent fuel, usually has a higher uranium-235 content than natural uranium.
Reprocessing as a whole is not currently (2005) in favor, and places that do reprocess already have PUREX plants constructed. Consequently, there is little demand for new pyrometallurgical systems, although there could be if the Generation IV reactor programs become reality.
[citation needed] The cutting of the used fuel, the dissolving of the fuel in hot nitric acid and the first extraction cycle of a nuclear reprocessing PUREX process (highly active cycle) would need to be done in a hot cell. The second cycle of the PUREX process (medium active cycle) can be done in gloveboxes.
One industrial application is the transport of crude oil via pipelines. Heavy crude oil / bitumen are fluids with high viscosity, especially at low temperatures. The addition of a diluent enables the diluted fluid ( dilbit in the case of bitumen) to meet pipeline specifications in order for it to be efficiently transported.