Determination of Filter Pore Size for Use in HB Line Phase II Production of Plutonium Oxide

Abstract

The Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon and HB-Line are tasked with the production of plutonium oxide from a feed of plutonium metal for the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility. The work presented here followed the general precipitation methods used at SRS to determine the quantity of solids present in the filtrate and to recommend an alternate filtration strategy. Initial Pu losses were found to be less than 1.5%. With additional filtration, this study indicates that a 50% further reduction in Pu solids in the filtrate can be achieved by the addition of a 2 μm filter.

Keywords:

• HB-Line
• plutonium oxide
• oxalate
• precipitation
• filtration
• MOX