Solid-state mechanochemical reduction combined with subsequent melting consolidation was suggested as a technical option for the oxide reduction in pyroprocessing. Ni ingot was produced from NiO as a starting material through this technique while Li metal was used as a reducing agent. To determine the technical feasibility of this approach for pyroprocessing, which handles spent nuclear fuels, thermodynamic calculations of the phase stabilities of various metal oxides of U and other fission elements were made when several alkaline and alkali-earth metals were used as reducing agents. This technique is expected to be beneficial, not only for oxide reduction but also for other unit processes involved in pyroprocessing.

사용후핵연료의 효율적 관리를 위하여 한국원자력연구원에서 수행 중인 파이로 공정으로부터 발생되는 폐기물 처리기술에 대한 최근 연구동향을 종합적으로 고찰하였다. 파이로 폐기물 처리기술은 처분 대상 폐기물의 감용 및 포장, 저장과 최종 처분에 적합한 고화체 제조를 목표로 하고 있다. 한국원자력연구원에서 수행 중인 파이로 폐기물 처리 기술개발 접근 방향은 공정 흐름으로부터 발생한 폐기물내 주요 핵종들을 분리하고 회수한 물질 등을 재사용함으로서 폐기물 발생량을 최소로 하며 동시에 분리한 핵종을 별도로 고화처리하는 것이다. 폐기물 처리 주요 기술 특성은 먼저 전해환원용 원료물질 제조를 위하여 전처리 고온 열처리 공정을 사용하며, LiCl 과 LiCl-KCl 염으로부터 핵종을 분리하고 회수염의 재사용 및 핵종 함유량을 증대시킨 최종 고화체 제조 기술을 개발하는 것이다. 따라서 실험실 규모 실험 결과를 토대로 최근에는 공정 용량 증대를 위한 자료 확보를 목적으로 공학규모 시험을 수행 중에 있다.

Three kinds of STS304-Zr alloys were fabricated by varying the Zr content, and their microstructure and fracture properties were analyzed. Moreover, we performed heat treatment to improve their properties and studied their microstructure and fracture properties. The microstructure of the STS304-Zr alloys before and after the heat treatment process consisted of α-Fe and intermetallics: Zr(Cr, Ni, Fe)2 and Zr6Fe23. The volume fraction of the intermetallics increased with an increasing Zr content. The 11Zr specimen exhibited the lowest hardness and fine dimples and cleavage facets in a fractured surface. The 15Zr specimen had high hardness and fine cleavage facets. The 19Zr specimen had the highest hardness and large cleavage facets. After the heat treatment process, the intermetallics were spheroidized and their volume fraction increased. In addition, the specimens after the heat treatment process, the Laves phase (Zr(Cr, Ni, Fe) 2) decreased, the Zr6Fe23 phase increased and the Ni concentration in the intermetallics decreased. The hardness of all the specimens after the heat treatment process decreased because of the dislocations and residual stresses in α-Fe, and the fine lamellar shaped eutectic microstructures changed into large α-Fe and spheroidized intermetallics. The cleavage facet size increased because of the decomposition of the fine lamellarshaped eutectic microstructures and the increase in spheroidized intermetallics.