Improvement in the Technology for Extracting U–9%Mo Granules from Aluminum and Aluminum Alloy Based Dispersion Compositions

A classification by form and fraction of production turnovers with U–9%Mo fuel is made. The technology developed at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering allowing unconditioned fuel rods and recovered material to be dissolved in a 10% solution of sodium hydroxide at temperatures 75–100°C is examined. The process developed for the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant for extracting U–9%Mo granules from recovered material obtained in the production of dispersion-type fuel rods of the experimental IRT-3M fuel assemblies is examined. The optimal regimes for extracting U–9%Mo granules during the processing of recovered material obtained in production of dispersion fuel rods are determined and perfected. The basic chemical reactions involved in the process of dissolution of the aluminum matrix are presented. The U–9%Mo granules, initial and recovered from the dispersion fuel composition of the kernels and fuel rods, were investigated, the possible differences between them were determined, and the possibility of using recovered granules in the production of dispersion fuel rods was evaluated.