Reduction and Refining of Plutonium Oxide

Pyroprocessing using molten salts offers a range of advantages when compared to aqueous
processing. These include a smaller footprint of facilities, better criticality safety margins, and shorter
cooling periods for irradiated fuel. The final product is normally of high purity.
UCL have pioneered the use of fluidised cathode electroreduction and successfully applied this
system to challenging materials. In this project, the ultimate aim would be to apply it to reduce a small
quantity of plutonium oxide at AWE premises. The bulk of the project will be in reducing surrogate
material oxides to their metal form using different precursor types, such as packed solid, liquid bed,
and the fluidised cathode, with the objective of improving reactor and electrode design and
performance along the way.