Accident in Continuous-Dissolver Pilot Plant of Fluoride Volatility Project on May 15, 1957 (open access)

Accident in Continuous-Dissolver Pilot Plant of Fluoride Volatility Project on May 15, 1957

The so-called Fluoride Volatility Processes refer to several proposed non-aqueous methods of processing irradiated fuel elements. In each of these methods, the uranium is fluorinated to UF6 and then decontaminated by distillation. One of those methods, involving the direct fluorination of the uranium by bromine trifluoride (BTF), has been under investigation at BNL since 1950. In 1952, it was demonstrated at BNL that uranium, as UF6, could be satisfactorily decontaminated by distillation in small-scale pilot plant equipment; end in 1953, BNL undertook the job of determining the technical feasibility of a continuous dissolver on a pilot-plant scale. The reason for the project was that the economic superiority of the process seemed to depend upon its amenability to continuous operation.
Date: July 10, 1957
Creator: Strickland, Gerald; Horn, F. L.; Johnson, Richard & Dwyer, O. E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Pilot Plant Fluorination of Uranium Fuel Elements by Bromine Trifluoride (open access)

Pilot Plant Fluorination of Uranium Fuel Elements by Bromine Trifluoride

Report issued by the Brookhaven National Laboratory discussing methods of processing reactor fuels such as uranium. As stated in the objective, "the primary objective of the project was to determine the effect of temperature, solution composition, and flow rate on the dissolving time for natural uranium slugs of varying history" (p. 2). This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs.
Date: July 26, 1957
Creator: Strickland, G.; Horn, F. L. & Johnson, R.
System: The UNT Digital Library