Editing Nuclear reprocessing (section)

====PYRO-A and -B for IFR====
These processes were developed by [[Argonne National Laboratory]] and used in the [[Integral Fast Reactor]] project.

'''PYRO-A''' is a means of separating actinides (elements within the [[actinide]] family, generally heavier than U-235) from non-actinides. The spent fuel is placed in an [[anode]] [[basket]] which is immersed in a molten salt electrolyte. An electric current is applied, causing the uranium metal (or sometimes oxide, depending on the spent fuel) to plate out on a solid metal cathode while the other actinides (and the rare earths) can be absorbed into a liquid [[cadmium]] cathode. Many of the fission products (such as [[caesium]], [[zirconium]] and [[strontium]]) remain in the salt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://criepi.denken.or.jp/en/e_publication/pdf/den363.pdf |publisher=CRIEPI News |title=Development of pyro-process fuel cell technology |date=July 2002 |access-date=22 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225154203/http://criepi.denken.or.jp/en/e_publication/pdf/den363.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nea.fr/html/pt/docs/iem/madrid00/Proceedings/Paper56.pdf|title=Development of plutonium recovery process by molten salt electrorefining with liquid cadmium cathode|author=Masatoshi Iizuka|publisher=Proceedings of the 6th information exchange meeting on actinide and fission product partitioning and transmutation (Madrid, Spain)|date=12 December 2001|access-date=22 June 2009|archive-date=5 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905052041/http://www.nea.fr/html/pt/docs/iem/madrid00/Proceedings/Paper56.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>R. Tulackova (Zvejskova), K. Chuchvalcova Bimova, P. Soucek, F. Lisy [http://www.nea.fr/html/pt/iempt8/abstracts/Abstracts/Session_II/zvejskova.ppt Study of Electrochemical Processes for Separation of the Actinides and Lanthanides in Molten Fluoride Media] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905052044/http://www.nea.fr/html/pt/iempt8/abstracts/Abstracts/Session_II/zvejskova.ppt |date=5 September 2009 }} (PPT file). Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc, Czech Republic</ref> As alternatives to the molten cadmium electrode it is possible to use a molten [[bismuth]] cathode, or a solid aluminium cathode.<ref>[http://www.nea.fr/html/pt/docs/iem/jeju02/session2/SessionII-06.pdf Electrochemical Behaviours of Lanthanide Fluorides in the Electrolysis System with LiF-NaF-KF Salt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905052049/http://www.nea.fr/html/pt/docs/iem/jeju02/session2/SessionII-06.pdf |date=5 September 2009 }}. (PDF) . Retrieved 10 December 2011.</ref><!-- this reference is not good enough.. notes from a conference.<ref>http://www.nea.fr/html/pt/docs/iem/jeju02/session2/Summary_sessionII.pdf {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> -->

As an alternative to electrowinning, the wanted metal can be isolated by using a [[molten]] [[alloy]] of an [[electropositive]] metal and a less reactive metal.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050123045408/http://www.merck.de/servlet/PB/show/1332930/10.Molten%20Salts%20Lanthanides.pdf Ionic Liquids/Molten Salts and Lanthanides/Actinides Reference List]. Merck.de. Retrieved 10 December 2011.</ref>

Since the majority of the long term [[radioactivity]], and volume, of spent fuel comes from actinides, removing the actinides produces waste that is more compact, and not nearly as dangerous over the long term. The radioactivity of this waste will then drop to the level of various naturally occurring minerals and ores within a few hundred, rather than thousands of, years.<ref>{{cite web
 | url= http://www.ne.doe.gov/AFCI/neAFCI.html
 | title= Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative
 | publisher= [[United States Department of Energy|U.S. Department of Energy]]
 | access-date= 3 May 2008
| url-status= dead
 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120510084252/http://www.ne.doe.gov/AFCI/neAFCI.html
 | archive-date= 10 May 2012 }}</ref>

The mixed actinides produced by pyrometallic processing can be used again as nuclear fuel, as they are virtually all either [[fissile]], or [[Fertile material|fertile]], though many of these materials would require a [[fast breeder reactor]] to be burned efficiently. In a [[thermal neutron]] spectrum, the concentrations of several heavy actinides ([[curium]]-242 and [[plutonium-240]]) can become quite high, creating fuel that is substantially different from the usual uranium or mixed uranium-plutonium oxides (MOX) that most current reactors were designed to use.

Another pyrochemical process, the '''PYRO-B''' process, has been developed for the processing and recycling of fuel from a [[transmuter reactor]] ( a [[fast breeder reactor]] designed to convert transuranic nuclear waste into fission products ). A typical transmuter fuel is free from uranium and contains recovered [[transuranic]]s in an inert matrix such as metallic [[zirconium]]. In the PYRO-B processing of such fuel, an [[electrorefining]] step is used to separate the residual transuranic elements from the fission products and recycle the transuranics to the reactor for fissioning. Newly generated technetium and iodine are extracted for incorporation into transmutation targets, and the other fission products are sent to waste.