Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) 2021: Nuclear Fuel Cycles- Session II
Program Organizers: Todd Allen, University of Michigan; Clarissa Yablinsky, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Anne Campbell, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Tuesday 10:30 AM
November 9, 2021
Room: Conference Center A
Location: Omni William Penn Hotel
Session Chair: Jie Lian, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
10:30 AM Invited
How Does PUREX Actually Work and What Do Chemists Do?: Jenifer Shafer1; 1Colorado School of Mines
The Plutonium, Uranium, Reduction, Extraction Process (PUREX) is the de facto approach for post-irradiation separations of plutonium and uranium. While this process has been in place for 70 years, the underpinning chemistry that controls PUREX is diabolically complicated and only recently have approaches been developed that can provide the near-molecular resolution necessary to understand process dynamics. This presentation will focus on recent developments in understanding the PUREX process, how this new understanding can explain undesirable phenomena like interfacial precipitates (CRUDs) and liquid third phase formation, and the benefits of new technologies that are not centered on PUREX chemistry. These new technologies include online monitoring, monoamide extractants and mixed actinide recovery approaches which could efficiently support a fast reactor fuel cycle. The presentation will be presented in a way to hopefully answer the question, “PUREX has been in use for roughly 70 years, why are chemists still working on this process?”.
11:10 AM
Development and Application of an Interatomic Potential for the Investigation of Mixed Oxide Compounds Containing Americium: Marjorie Bertolus1; Simon Orlat1; Baptiste Labonne1; 1CEA
Americium is a chemical element produced in nuclear reactors, whose strong radiotoxicity is a major issue for the management of nuclear waste. One solution envisaged to reduce the amount of americium in waste is to separate it and to transmute it in reactor into a less radiotoxic element. This requires, among other things, a very good knowledge of the thermodynamic properties of Am bearing oxides to control the manufacturing process and predict the phases formed under irradiation. Atomic scale modelling, e.g. classical Molecular Dynamics, is a suitable tool for the calculation of thermodynamic properties to complement experimental characterizations. It requires, however, precise interatomic potentials.We parameterized a potential for Americium with oxidation state + III in the formalism developed by Cooper, Rushton and Grimes and validated it against available experimental data. The potential was then applied to determine thermodynamic properties of (U,Am)O2 as a function of Am content and/or temperature. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2019-2020 under grant agreement No 945077.
11:30 AM
Radiation Damages Bohr’s Metrics: The Elemental Landscape: Jean-Christophe Sublet1; Mark Gilbert2; 1IAEA; 2United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Nuclear interactions can be the source of atomic displacement; post-short-term cascade annealing defects; atomic, lattice interstitial gas dislocation; atomic activation, transmutation and heating in irradiated structural materials. Such quantities are derived from, or can be correlated to, nuclear kinematic simulations of the energy spectra of primary atomic recoil distributions, and the quantification of the numbers of secondary defects produced per primary as a function of the available recoils, residual or transmutant and emitted particles. Novel data forms for 83 naturally occurring element that include total and partial neutron defect-energy production, gas production cross section and kinetic energy release in material KERMA factors, have been systematically derived from ENDF/B-VIII.0, JENDL-4.0, JEFF-3.3, TENDL-2019 and CENDL-3.2 libraries. Numerical instance of integral damage quantities for legacy and novel nuclear components material alloys in NNPs, piles, fusion and accelerator devices typical irradiation conditions are been simulated in order to applicably founds material damage metrics landscape.