Prospective Power-Reactor Fuel Cycles Based on Water-Free Reprocessing of Spent Fuel

A pyroelectrochemical process for reprocessing spent fuel and fabricating granular oxides UO2, PuO2 or (U, Pu)O2 from chloride melts has been developed at the Scientific-Research Institute of Nuclear Reactors for a prospective nuclear fuel cycle. The basic equipment has been developed. The basic results of a comprehensive study of fuel elements with vibrationally compacted (U, Pu)O2 fuel for fast reactors are presented. The performance of the reactors remains high up to 30% burnup in standard BOR-60 reactor fuel assemblies and 32% burnup in experimental fuel elements. An assessment is made of the effectiveness of the pyroelectrochemical methods and vibrational compaction technology for plutonium utilization.