Recovery of uranium using electrorefining with an anode-liquid cathode module (ALCM) in molten LiCl–KCl–UCl3–NdCl3 and cadmium distillation

A laboratory-scale anode-liquid cathode module was used to recover uranium (U) from molten LiCl–KCl salt bearing uranium (U) and neodymium (Nd). The influences of the salt composition and the anodic reaction on the amount of U and Nd recovered from the liquid Cd cathode (LCC) were examined. The anode type did not affect the U/Nd ratio in the LCC product significantly when the ratio of U/Nd in the salt was 1.2–1.5. The eight process runs led to the recovery of U in high yield, with 2–5 wt% of co-deposited Nd.