Process for preparing a powder comprising a solid solution of uranium dioxide and of a dioxide of at least one other actinide and/or lanthanide element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10005676-B2
Application number	US-201415031105-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2014
Priority date	Oct 22, 2013
Publication date	Jun 26, 2018
Grant date	Jun 26, 2018

Abstract

A method for preparing a powder of a solid solution of dioxide of uranium and of at least one other actinide and/or lanthanide element comprising combusting a solution that comprises uranyl nitrate and at least one nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element and glycine, with the glycine being used in a predetermined amount so as to form, at the end of the combustion, the solid solution.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for preparing a powder of a solid solution of dioxide of uranium and of at least one other actinide and/or lanthanide element comprising:
combusting a solution comprising uranyl nitrate and at least one nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element and glycine, the glycine being used in a predetermined amount in order to form, at the end of combusting, said solid solution, said predetermined amount being an over-stoichiometric amount of glycine relative to the uranyl nitrate obtained by:
a) determining a combustion equation of uranyl nitrate, to which a factor φ U is assigned to the stoichiometric coefficient of glycine;
b) determining an over-stoichiometric amount of glycine, Q U , by multiplying the amount of uranyl nitrate by the stoichiometric coefficient of glycine and by the factor φU, the latter being set to a value greater than 1;
c) determining a combustion equation of the nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element, to which a factor φ An/Ln is assigned to the stoichiometric coefficient of glycine;
d) determining an amount of the glycine, Q An/Ln , by multiplying the amount of the at least one nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element by the stoichiometric coefficient of the glycine and by the factor φ An/Ln , the latter being set to a value below 2; and
e) obtaining said predetermined amount by adding at least the amounts of glycine determined in b) (Q U ) and d) (Q An/Ln ), respectively.

2. The method for preparing a powder according to claim 1 , wherein the factor φ U has a value ranging from 1.5 to 1.7.

3. The method for preparing the powder according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element comprises:
(i) for the nitrate of the other actinide element, a plutonium nitrate, a minor actinide nitrate and/or a thorium (IV) nitrate; and
(ii) for the nitrate of the other lanthanide element, a lanthanide (III) or (IV) nitrate.

4. The method for preparing a powder according to claim 1 , wherein the combusting comprises gradually heating the solution up to an ignition temperature.

5. The method for preparing a powder according to claim 1 , further comprising, before the combusting, preparing the solution comprising uranyl nitrate and at least one nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element and glycine.

6. The method for preparing a powder according to claim 5 , wherein preparing the solution comprising uranyl nitrate and at least one nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element and glycine consists of adding, to a first solution only comprising uranyl nitrate and at least one nitrate of the other actinide and/or lanthanide element, the predetermined amount of glycine.

Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique
• Orano Cycle
• Commissariat A Lenergie Atomique Et Aux Eenergies Alternatives

Inventors

• Peter-Soldani Guillaume
• Grandjean Stephane
• Abraham Francis

Classifications

• Y02E30/38

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02W30/883

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• C01G43/00 Primary

  Compounds of uranium · CPC title

• C01G56/007

  Compounds of transuranic elements (C01G56/001 and C01G56/004 take precedence) · CPC title

• G21C21/02

  Manufacture of fuel elements or breeder elements contained in non-active casings · CPC title