"Work has continued on high temperature methods for processing irradiated uranium fuel. Additional results have been obtained with fused halide treatment, solid scavengers and direct Pu distillation. With fussed fluorides about 95 per cent of the Pu was removed from a uranium sample, while treatment of uranium with HC1 gas removed almost all the Pu and many fission products. treatment of molten uranium with uranium oxide removed a substantial fraction of the fission products without removing Pu. Uranium carbide treatment results were similar to the oxide but not as effective. A small scale distillation of Pu from uranium showed that Raoult's law is obeyed."

"Continued progress has been made with the high temperature decontamination processes for irradiated uranium fuel. The fused salt treatment of molten uranium has been extended to UCl3. Plutonium and rare earths were extracted into the UCl3 phase. Direct plutonium distillation from molten irradiated uranium has been scaled up to the hundred gram scale. Solid scavenging experiments using uranium oxide, uranium carbide, and uranium nitride in contact with molten uranium have indicated fission product removal. A scaled-up investigation of the separation and recover of uranium from an SIR type ceramic fuel using the volatile fluoride process has indicated the feasibility of this separation method. The effect of irradiation on the decomposition of BrF3 has been further studies in experiments using the NAA statitron.'

"Scale-up work on high temperature fuel recovery processes has progressed to the point where the (high temperature) vacuum furnace for several operations to the hot cells has been completed and tested under operating conditions. Small scale experiments on high temperature methods for processing molten irradiated uranium fuel have been made with spent X-10 fuel slug pieces. The results of direct Pu evaporation, treatment with fused fluorides and oxide scavenging were every similar to those found with tracer experiments."