Editing Nuclear reprocessing (section)

====Chloride volatility and solubility====
Many of the elements that form volatile high-[[valence (chemistry)|valence]] fluorides will also form volatile high-valence chlorides. Chlorination and distillation is another possible method for separation. The sequence of separation may differ usefully from the sequence for fluorides; for example, [[zirconium tetrachloride]] and [[tin tetrachloride]] have relatively low boiling points of {{convert|331|°C}} and {{convert|114.1|°C}}. Chlorination has even been proposed as a method for removing zirconium fuel cladding,<ref name=advancedheadend>{{cite web |url=http://www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cppr/y2001/pres/123514.pdf |title=Advanced Head-End Processing of Spent Fuel: A Progress Report |author=Guillermo D. Del Cul |work=2005 ANS annual meeting |publisher=[[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]], U.S. DOE |access-date=3 May 2008 |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060307211536/http://www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cppr/y2001/pres/123514.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2006}}</ref> instead of mechanical decladding.

Chlorides are likely to be easier than fluorides to later convert back to other compounds, such as oxides.

Chlorides remaining after volatilization may also be separated by solubility in water. Chlorides of alkaline elements like [[americium]], [[curium]], [[lanthanides]], [[strontium]], [[caesium]] are more soluble than those of [[uranium]], [[neptunium]], [[plutonium]], and [[zirconium]].