Development of a Ceramic-Lined Crucible for the Separation of Salt from Uranium

As part of the spent fuel treatment program at the Idaho National Laboratory, alternate crucible materials are being developed for the processing of uranium and salt. The separation of salt (LiCl/KCl based) from uranium is performed in an inductively heated furnace capable of distillation under vacuum conditions. Historically, salt and uranium have been processed in graphite crucibles coated with a zirconia mold wash. Although the coated crucibles have performed adequately considering the reactive nature of salt and uranium at high temperature, the operations required for multiple use of the crucibles are quite labor intensive. Thus, an alternate ceramic-lined crucible has been developed to simplify remote operations. Two ceramic-lined crucibles have been tested using irradiated materials to verify their compatibility and determine an ultimate life cycle. Although minor process losses and crucible deterioration have occurred with the ceramic-lined crucibles, the overall performance of the crucibles has been adequate for the separation of salt during uranium processing.