Recycling of LiCl-KCl eutectic based salt wastes containing radioactive rare earth oxychlorides or oxides

Recycling of LiCl-KCl eutectic salt wastes containing radioactive rare earth oxychlorides or oxides was studied to recover renewable salts from the salt wastes and to minimize the radioactive wastes by using a vacuum distillation method. Vaporization of the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt was effective above 900 degrees C and at 5 Torr. The condensations of the vaporized salt were largely dependent on temperature gradient. Based on these results, a recycling system of the salt wastes as a closed loop type was developed to obtain a high efficiency of the salt recovery condition. In this system, it was confirmed that renewable salt was recovered at more than 99 wt.% from the salt wastes, and the changes in temperature and pressure in the system could be utilized to understand the present condition of the system operation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.