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ORNL-TM-0907REV.txt
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_---.-.'_;-;;OAK RIDGE NAT|ONAL I.ABORA_ORY
.. operated by -
UNION 'CARBIDE CORPORATION s "
?'fi:j-fNUCLEAR DIVISION -
for the . ’
U S _ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISS!ON
ORNI. TM-'907 Revis_ed' e
CDPY NO. - i.&z
A ._pA_T_E_;-__- December 28, 1967
MSRE DESIGNVAND” OPEBATIONS REPORT
FUEL HANDLmO AND PROCESS];NG PMNT -
| R. B. Lindsuer
o S R ' NOTICE This_ ‘document - contains information of a preliminary “nature:.. " IliTl.
' R L ‘ * " ond was preporec! primarily for internal use at the Ock Ridge Nahonal e
: Laboratory. It is_subject -t revision or correction and therefore does e e
‘ ‘not represent a fma! report. ' ;
mmmosmzs QOCUMINT, 15 DRIMITER
'LEGAL NOTICE '
This report was pnpaad as an account of Govomment sponlorod *work Nelthor the Unlhd Sfofes,
nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commlssion: -
A. Makes any worronty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, N
" completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of
eny information, cppurmus, mefhod “or precon diseloud in this nport muy not infringo
privotely owned rights; or
-B Assumes any liabilities with rospcct to the use of or for damages rnuhing ‘rom tho use of-
-any Informuflon, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report,
As used in the above, “'person acting on behalf of the Commission’® includes any -mployee or
contractor of the Commissicn, or employee of such contractor, to the extent that such omployoe
ot contractor - of the Commlulon, or .mployn of such contractor prepares, dissemmntos, or
- provides access to, any informetion pursuant to hcs omploymenf or contract with the Commlssnofi, e
" or his employment with such conh'ucfor.
!:)a{‘;?”‘ -
o Bow
)
Ry
o
s}
: 47)@1;‘ &
' ‘PREFACE
111
This report is one of & series that describes the design and
_operation of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment All the reports have
‘been issued with the exceptions noted
oRNL.-n&-,?es . MSRE Design and Operations Report, Part I,
e Description of Reactor Design by
. R. C RObertson
ORNL-TM-T29 MSRE Design and Operations Report, Part II,
- "~ Nuclear and Process Instrumentation, by
J . R. 'I'allackson
ORNL-TM-730 MSRE Design and Operations Report, Part TIT
‘ 7 Nuclear Analysis, by P..N, Haubenreich,
J. R Engel B
E,
Prince, and H. C. Claiborne
ORNL—TMrT31¥* MSRE Design and Operations Report Part IV,
- ‘ Chemistry and Materials, by F. F. Blankenship
and A Taboads
ORNL-TM~T732 - MSRE Design and Operations Report, Part V,
' Reactor Safety Analysis Report, by S. E, Beall,
P. N. Haubenreich, R. B. Lindauer, and
J. R. Tallackson
ORNL-TM-2111% MSRE Design and Operations Report, Part V-A,
- : Safety Analysis of Operation with 233y by
P. N. Haubenreich, J. R. Engel, C. H. Gabbard
R. -H.- Guymon, and B. E. Prince
ORNL-TM-733 . MSRE Design and Operations Report, Part VI,
(Revised) - Operating Limits, by S. E. Beall and
. . : : : Ro H Guymon o
"'p""ORNL-TM-9OT MSRE Design and Operations Report ‘Part VII
~ (Revised) ‘Fuel Handling and Processing Plant, by
R ‘B Lindauer
. ORNL-TM-908 MBRE Design and Operations Report Part VIII
R - Operating Procedures, by R. H. Guymon |
. ORNL-TM-909 IMSRE Design and Operations Report Part IX
Safety Procedures and Emergency Plans, by
A, N, Smith - \
lEGAL NOTICE
. This report was prepnred as an account ot Government lponsored work. Neithar the United
States, mor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission:
" 'A. Makes sny warranty or representation, expreased or implied, with respect to the nccu-
. racy, completeness, or usefulness of the information contained In this report, or that the use
of any information, apparatus, mefl:od or process duclosed fn this report may not infringe
' . privately owned rights; or
B. Assumes any lisbilities with respect to the use of, or for damages multl.ug trom tha
; use of &ny information, apparatus method, or process disclosed in this report.
As used in the above, ‘“‘person acting on behalf of the Commission® includes any em-
" | ployee or ‘contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor, to the ‘extent that
“- - such employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor prepares,
disseminates, or providea access to, any informatfon pursuant fo his omployment or contract
with tba Commiuion or his employment with such contractor,
H
rmmmrnnwmewmwp,m
e et b bt St L e e e R LA SRR R AL+ e e o b e e o e ireae e,
AN
DIETRROTION OF THiS QOCUMENT, (5 ONLIMITED
iv
3 x% | |
ORNL-TM-910 MSRE Design and Operations Report, Part X, _ .
: - . Maintenance Equipment and Proce&ures, by - ,
E. C. Hise and R. Blumberg
ORNL-TM-911 - MSRE Design and Opera'bions Repor'b Par'b XI,
Test Program, by R. H. Guymon, P
end J. R. Engel »
*%
- MSRE Design and Operations Report ‘Part XII
Lists: Drawings, Specifications, Line
Schedules, Instrument Tabulations :
(Vol. l and 2)
~ .
These. reports sre in the process of being issued.
*¥*% '
- These reports are not going to be issued.
. N. Haubenreich,
m'@ (¥
=
bln'.
<9
-
v
o
e .. TABLE OF CONIENTS
- 1., INTRODUCTION « o o + o v & «-. . . .
2. PROCESS DESCRIPTION . + & o » o 4 o oo v o o -
2.1 Ho-HF Treatment for Oxide Removal. e
2.2 Uranium Recovery . .;. o e e s e e s
3. EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTTION . . . . 0 v v v o o o 4 .
3.1 Plant Layout o v oo v b w0 e
3.2 Meintenance . . e e e e .
3,3 In-Cell Equipment; DRI ..
3.4 Out-of-Cell Equipment. | . :
3.5 Electrical System '._ e e e e e e e e
3.6 Helium Supply System . . . . :
: 3.7 Instrumentation. . . . « o o + o 4 & . .
.a' 3.8 Brine SYBLEM « v v v v v 0 o o 6 e e o 0 .
s L, SAFETY ANALYSIS . o v v v v v v o o s v e o
4,1 Summery end Conclusions, . . . . . . .
h.a Bases for Calculations,. e e e e e et o
4.3 Qaseous Activity . C e e e e e
k., )y Penetrating Radiation. e o e e e e e
s
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S, 1. 1 Summagz
MSRE DESTCN AND OPERATIONS REPORT
© Part VI
FUEL HANDLING AND PROCESSING PLANT
'R, B. Lindauer
:L.— : II\]TROIIICTION
This revision covers changeh‘in equipment and in operating plans
over the past 3 years as a result of the following:
(1)fhn§§e;Ze£Ze during He-HF treatment of flush salt in April
1965. (Ref. 1) o e
(2) Use of fuel salt containing 230 kg of 33% enriched uranium
" instead of 60 kg of 93% enriched uranium.
(3) The decision to process fuel salt after 30 days instead of |
| - 90 days ‘decay. ' : - : 7
(%) Volatilization of . noble metal fission products (Mo, Te,Ihx ete.)
' ._ from the salt during reactor operation. .
. (5) The decision to filter the salt after fluorination before re-
, turning it to the reactor system, .
Also, at the request of the Radlochemical Plants Committee, more
detailed information is provided on the maximum credible accident moni-
' tors and alarms and emergency or backrup services.__
Coar .-
+
2. PROCESS DESCRIPTION
2.1 Hp-HF Treatment for Oxide Removal
‘Moisture or oxygen inleakage into the reactor salt system or use of
. helium cover gas containing moisture or oxygen could cause oxide accumu-
,y'lation in the salt and, eventually, precipitation of solids. Tn' the flush
© o or coolant salts, the precipitated solid would be BeO, which has a solu-
L bility of.approximately 290 ppm at.1200°F (see Fig. 2.1): Zirconium
. ' | : ORNL DWG. 68-2728
i
1
i
1
|
i
gso qeo . 980 ipoo 050 1100 (150 T 200
o~ | TEMPERATURE °F » | |
-
. Figure 2.1. Oxide Solubility as a Function of Temperature.
"
i v b b
{ pe ’
o
- ..
&
)
tetrafluoride was added to the fuel salt as an oxygen getter to prevent
"small amounts of oxygen from. causing uranium precipitation. If the flush
salt is contaminated with.fuel salt up to approximately 0.01 mole of zir-.
- conium per kg of salt (~ l% fuel in flush salt), there would be insuf-
ficient zirconium present: to exceed the solubility of ZrOz at 1112°F
and eany precipitate would;be BeO. Above‘this zirconium condentration,
exceeding the soldbility'limit-would cause ZrOsz precipitation. When
sufficlent Zr0z has precipitated to reduce the Zr:U ratio to ~ 5, co-
precipitation of ZrOz and Uogrvill occur. The effect of 3% contamination
of the flush selt with fuel salt is shown.in Fig. 2.1.
‘Oxides Will be removed by treating the fuel or flush salt in the
fuel storage tank. (see Fig. 2. 2) with s mixture of Ha and HF gas. In
. the treatment. process, HF will react with the oxide to form the fluoride
‘and water, the water will beievolved along withrthe_hydrogen and excess
" HF. The Hs will preventaerceSSive corroSion of the INOR-8 structural
material by“maintaining a reducing'condition in, the salt. The gases will
x‘pass through an NaF bed for decontamination before monitoring for water
determination, The gas stream will then ‘pass through a caustic scrubber 1
. for neutralization of the HF.. The hydrogen will go to the offgas system.
The‘treatment will- be terminated when water is no longer detected in the
'offgas stresm. A finel sparglng vith helium will remove,dissolved HF.
2.1. 2 Hydrofluorination
f
. Hydrogen fluoride will be obtained in 100-1b cylinders. One cylinder
\.rwill provide sufficient HF for 92 hr of processing at a flow rate of
9 liters/min (Ha HF = 10 l) The HF cylinder will be partially submerged
r.rin a water bath heated with 1ow-pressure steam to provide sufficient
pressure for the required flow rate.w Since heating of the cylinders
7above 125°F is not recommended ‘there is a pressure. alarm on. the exit
-gas set at 22 psig The HF gas will pass through an electric heater to
;raise the temperature above 180°F and reduce the molecular weight to 20
lf: for accurate flOW'metering.- The hydrogen flow will be started‘before the
THF flow to minimize corrosion._ The hydrogen flow rate will be set at \
‘the rotameter at the gas supply station west of the building The hydro-~
'gen fluoride flow rate will be regulated by the controller on the \
ORNL—DWG 63-3{23AR
. osaLT 200°F NaF ABSORBERS IN CUBICLE . -
: SAMPLER % ‘ v
. CHARGING . : -, w : ,
: ’
: ' HIGH BAY AREA I s, " '
Yy = —_— ——— . ey
FUEL PROCESSING CELL
COLD TRAP
" SALT TO OR
FROM DRAIN
AND FLUSH TANKS
ACTIVATED
CHARCOAL
TRAP
P : wasTe | | FUEL -
a _ SALT | 1STORAGE
' ‘ TANK -
SYSTEM
ABSOLUTE
B
4
- P
!
AF
U |
FILTER
\\_ ’
‘ | : ) TO VENT
750°F TRA
NaF BED . NEUTR E.IZER
- Figure 2.2. MSRE Fuel-Processing System.
"
"
:1.
o
o panelboard in the high-bay area. The'salt backup prevention valve must
be closed with the manual switoh until flow is started, at which time the
differential pressure switch will maintain ‘the valve in the closed po-
-wsition unless the tank pressure exceeds the HQ-HF pressure.
The offgas stream leaving the fuel storage tank will consist of hy-
drogen, water, _excess hydrogen fluoride, and helium. Volatilization of
fission and corrosion products is expected to be much lower than during
fluorination because of the reducing effect of the hydrogen. Fission
- products that are partially volatilized 88 fluorides during fluorination,
- such as ruthenium,_niobium, and antimony, are expected to exist in the
metallic state. Any chromium in the salt from corrosion is expected to
be in the nOnvolatile +2 or +3 valence state. The offgas ‘stream will
pass through a heated line to the NaF trap. The line will be heated to -
e.200°F to prevent condensation of Hao-HF
The salt temperature is not oritical during Hg-HF treatment since
corrosion and fission product volatilization are not important For.
rapid oxide removal it is necessary that all the oxide is in solution.
~ The salt temperature should be adjusted about 50°F higher than that 1nai-
| cated by the oxide analysis and solubility curves. The temperature |
should not be maintained higher than necessary since this lowers the HF
, solubility and consequently the HF utilization.
- The hydrogen fluoride and Hz flow Will be stopped when no more water
is detected in the offgas stream. The salt will then be sparged with
helium. to remove dissolved HF ‘and to purge ‘the system of HF and hydrogen."
_f;The gas stream will ‘be checked for hydrogen before it enters the offgas
1_fduct by passing a small stream through a . hydrogen monitor. S
o 2.1. 3 NaF Trapping
'y remotely removable NaF bed is provided in the fuel processing
i'cell to remove small amounts of volatilized fission or corrosion productS“
- from the offgas stream 'The trap will be maintained ‘at 750°F to prevent
'”7g5adsorption of HF. Since the vapor pressure of HF over NaF is 1 atm at
"h1532°F the trap could be operated at a “‘somewhat lower temperature, but
'750°F will be required to prevent UFg adsorption during fluorination (see
Sect. 2.2.3), and this temperature was selected for both operations.
' 2.1.4 Monitoring for Water
The removal of oxides Pfrom the salt will be followed by passing a
S
2 cc/min side stream of the gas stresm from the NaF trap. through a - ‘ -
water monitor (See Fig. 2. 3). This monitor- consists of an NaF trap for |
removal of HF from. the sample stream.before it is passed through an
'electrolytic hygrometer. ‘The part of the monitor through which the
'.radioactive sample passes is located in the absorber cubicle for contain-;
ment. Integrationiof the monitorrreadings indicates the total emount of
oxide removed : ' | '
A more elaborate but less accurate method of determining the oxide
removal by cold-trapping, was installed before the water monitor was de-
" veloped. Since the monitor performed very well during the flush salt
processing, the cold trap serves only as a backup for the monitor and &
qualitative check on the end point., | As originally conceiVed several- S
runs would have been required.under steady operating conditions to ob-
tain data for correlation of cold trap volume with oxide content Be-f
cause of the excellent performance of the monitor these runs have not . e
‘been made. However, the absence of water in the gas streem.will be seen i |
in the cold trap system by the termination of condensation and.reduced
heat load on the trap.
2.1.5 Offgas Handling
4
, The hydrogen fluoride will be neutralized in a static caustlc
scrubber tank. + Hydrogen and helium from the- scrubber will pass ‘through
an activated-charcosal trap and a flame arrester before entering ‘the cell
ventilation duct, . The cell ventilation air will pass through an absolute
- filter, located in the spare cell, before going to the main filters end
stack. As mentioned before, 1ittle activity is expected in the offgas
stream- during Ho-HF treatment '
Since the fluorine disposal system will not be used during HQ-HF
treatment but will still be connected to the scrubber inlet line, the
system must be purged to prevent diffusion and condensation of HgO-HF in '
5 A
the disposal system. This will be done by connecting'Ne;cylinders at | A
the S0z cylinder menifold. As an additional precaution, the SOz preheater ' '\Eg f
.9
)
)
V=14
Xv-il
" ORNL DWG. 68-2T729
[Frow
ConTR.
xm] Jour
WET o Dy Ni
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1got2e °F
A fi, i Lt_.
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. Figurégz;é} _Water Andlyzer.'
V-6 . To SPARE
‘QELL
. VENT
. should be heated because the stainless steel preheater would be es-
pecially subject to corrosion by the wet HF.
. 2 i.6 Liguid Waste Disposal
- The caustic scrubber will be charged with 1300 liters of 2 M KOH
prepared by dilution of & 45% KOH solution._ Three 115-gal. batches of
2M (10%) KOH will be prepared in & portsble mix tank in the high-bay
-area and charged through a line provided with a menual valve and a check |
~_valve, Dilution to 2 M will be required because of the possibility of
gel formation in KF solutions of greater than 2.M. - :
At 9, 1-liters/min HF flow, the KOH - will have to be replaced every |
4 days when the final concentration is 0.35 M. Tt will, therefore, be
necessary to Jet the KOH solution to the liquid waste tank and replace
it with fresh caustic when 8 100 -1b HF cylinder has been consumed.
2.2 Urenium Recovery
2 2o 1 Summarx
The fuel or flush salt should be allowed to decay as long as possible
‘before fluorination to minimize the discharge of the volatile fission-
product fluorides that will be formed by the oxidizing action of the
fluorine. The most important volatile activities are iodine, tellurium,
niobium, ruthenium, ‘and- antimony. However, salt samples during reactor
* operation have shown only iodine remaining in the salt in large concen-
- trations. '
After decay, the salt batch will be fluOrinated in the fuel storage
tank., The offgas containing UFs, excess fluorine, and volatile activity
will pass through s high-temperature NaF trap for decontamination and
- chromium removal before absorption on lofi%temperature”NaF absorbers.
Excess fluorine will be reacted with S0z to prevent'damage t0'the'Fiber-
glas filters. Before filtration the offgas will be further decontami-‘
‘nated by passage through an activated charcoal bed. '
The absorbers will be transported to another facility where they will
fbe desorbed and “the UFg cold_trapped and.collected in product cylinders.
Ot
.0y
-
2.2.2 Fluorinmation:
" Uranium will be recovered from ‘the molten salt by sparging with
' fluorine to convert the Ufigto volatile UFs. The fluorine will be diluted
with en equal volume of helium when fluorine is detected in the offgas
’ i stream to reduce the number of times. the fluorine trailer must be changed;
This should have 1ittle effect on the overall processing time, since
utilization is expected to be low after most of the ‘uranium has been
volatilized A total gas flow of ebout 50 liters/min should provide good
agitation, The salt sample line will be purged with helium during
fluorinstion to prevent- UFg diffusion and will be heated to prevent =
~ condensation, The temperature of'the melt_will_be maintained as low as
- practical Q~_30'to 50°F above the ligquidus of 813°F) to keep corrosion
and fission-produCt-volatilization to & minimumg Boiling points of some
_volatilb-fluorides-are listed in Table 2.2. The heaters on the upper
-half and top'df'the tank-will'not be used during'fluorination to reduce
- salt entrainment but they will be turned on after fluorination to melt
down splatter and condensation.
Teble 2. 2
Boiling Points of Fluoride Salts
'Salt__._f Boiling Temperature
\’ lebg . . o - : .
™, 39 (sublime)
MoFg R 95"
UFg. 130
™ a2
SbFs 300
MoFs o - Lo
CmR oWk
TeFg. . 543 '
soFs 55k
4 o595 o