Lanterna Rally

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Published: 1961

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Experiments with unirradiated Consolidated Edison reactor ThO/sub 2/-- U0/sub 2/ fuel pellets indicated that uranium losses to Sulfex and Darex decladding solutions were proportional to the U0/sub 2/ content of the pellets. For example, after 7 hr, losses to boiling initial Darex solution (5 M HNO/sub 3/- -2 M HCl) were 0.45 and 0.65% from pellets containing 3 and 9% U0/sub 2/, respectively. The initial rate of dissolution of these pellets in 200% excess boiling 13 M HNO/sub 3/--0.04 M NaF-0.1 M Al(NO/sub 3/)/sub 3/ was essentially independent of the U0/sub 2/ content. Rates were 2.1, 3.0, and 2.4 mg min/sup -1/ cm/sup -2/ for pellets contdining 3, 6, and 9% U0/sub 2/, respectively. The presence in the dissolvent of the soluble neutron poisons H/sub 3/B0/sub 3/ and Cd(NO/sub 3/)/sub 2/ in concentrations up to 0.1 M and 0.075 M, respectively, had little effect on the rate of dissolution of sintered UO/sub 2/-- ThO/sub 2/ fuel pellets. (auth).