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Combined reprocessing of weapons plutonium into high-purity oxide fuel

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The main results of a study of regimes for dissolution of plutonium oxide and mononitride powders, obtained by the pyrochemical method from weapons plutonium, in acids for subsequent extraction removal of gallium, americium, and ballast impurities and obtaining ceramic-type plutonium oxide powder suitable for fabricating mixing oxide fuel are presented. It is established experimentally that plutonium oxide and mononitride obtained by the pyrochemical method dissolve rapidly in the acid mixture HNO3 12 moles/liter and HF 0.1 moles/liter. Plutonium extraction into solution reaches >99%.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bochvar All-Russia Research Institute for Inorganic Materials (VNIINM), Moscow, Russia

    L. V. Arseenkov, B. D. Rogozkin, N. M. Stepennova, Yu. E. Fedorov, M. G. Shishkov, V. Yu. Rogozhkin, E. M. Glagovskii, V. P. Varykhanov & V. S. Kucherenko

  2. Russian Federal Nuclear Center – Zababakhin All-Russia Research Institute of Technical Physics (RFYaTs – VNIITF), Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia

    L. I. Shibarshov

Authors
  1. L. V. Arseenkov
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  2. B. D. Rogozkin
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  3. N. M. Stepennova
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  4. Yu. E. Fedorov
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  5. M. G. Shishkov
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  6. V. Yu. Rogozhkin
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  7. E. M. Glagovskii
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  8. V. P. Varykhanov
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  9. V. S. Kucherenko
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  10. L. I. Shibarshov
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Additional information

Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 109, No. 5, pp. 279–284, November, 2010.

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Arseenkov, L.V., Rogozkin, B.D., Stepennova, N.M. et al. Combined reprocessing of weapons plutonium into high-purity oxide fuel. At Energy 109, 343–349 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-011-9366-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-011-9366-8

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