Potential of electrolytic processes for recovery of molybdenum from molten salts for 99Mo production

Jisue Moon; Kristian Myhre; Hunter Andrews; Joanna McFarlane

doi:10.1016/j.pnucene.2022.104369

Potential of electrolytic processes for recovery of molybdenum from molten salts for ⁹⁹Mo production

Jisue Moon, Kristian Myhre, Hunter Andrews, Joanna McFarlane

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies are receiving significant interest for commercialization because of their potential safety features and efficient energy production. In addition to producing reliable and clean energy, high-value radioisotopes could be harvested from MSRs as an additional revenue stream. Although significant quantities of ⁹⁹Mo will be produced in MSRs through fission, how accessible ⁹⁹Mo will be for direct recovery from a fuel salt is unclear. Electrolytic processes in fused salts have been used extensively for processing molten salts and have the potential to enable the extraction of ⁹⁹Mo directly from the fuel salt. This paper reviews the behavior of ⁹⁹Mo in the molten salt reactor experiment and summarizes theoretical aspects of the electrolytic process in high-temperature fused salt and the published experimental results on Mo extraction through electrolytic processes. The general principle of fused-salt electrolytic processes is described, by electrodeposition of Mo with the following aspects: electrowinning, electrorefining, electroplating, and electroextraction with several experimental considerations. Finally, important considerations for recovery of ⁹⁹Mo from MSR relevant molten salts via electrodeposition are discussed.

Original language	English
Article number	104369
Journal	Progress in Nuclear Energy
Volume	152
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2022.104369
State	Published - Oct 2022

Funding

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). Support for this research was provided by the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Material Management and Minimization, Molybdenum-99 Program. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). Support for this research was provided by the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration , Office of Material Management and Minimization, Molybdenum-99 Program.

Funders	Funder number
DOE Public Access Plan
U.S. Department of Energy
National Nuclear Security Administration

Keywords

And electroplating
Electrodeposition
Electrolytic process
Electrowinning
Mo
Molten chloride salts
Molten salt reactor (MSR)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.pnucene.2022.104369

Cite this

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title = "Potential of electrolytic processes for recovery of molybdenum from molten salts for 99Mo production",

abstract = "Molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies are receiving significant interest for commercialization because of their potential safety features and efficient energy production. In addition to producing reliable and clean energy, high-value radioisotopes could be harvested from MSRs as an additional revenue stream. Although significant quantities of 99Mo will be produced in MSRs through fission, how accessible 99Mo will be for direct recovery from a fuel salt is unclear. Electrolytic processes in fused salts have been used extensively for processing molten salts and have the potential to enable the extraction of 99Mo directly from the fuel salt. This paper reviews the behavior of 99Mo in the molten salt reactor experiment and summarizes theoretical aspects of the electrolytic process in high-temperature fused salt and the published experimental results on Mo extraction through electrolytic processes. The general principle of fused-salt electrolytic processes is described, by electrodeposition of Mo with the following aspects: electrowinning, electrorefining, electroplating, and electroextraction with several experimental considerations. Finally, important considerations for recovery of 99Mo from MSR relevant molten salts via electrodeposition are discussed.",

keywords = "And electroplating, Electrodeposition, Electrolytic process, Electrowinning, Mo, Molten chloride salts, Molten salt reactor (MSR)",

author = "Jisue Moon and Kristian Myhre and Hunter Andrews and Joanna McFarlane",

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year = "2022",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.pnucene.2022.104369",

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T1 - Potential of electrolytic processes for recovery of molybdenum from molten salts for 99Mo production

AU - Moon, Jisue

AU - Myhre, Kristian

AU - Andrews, Hunter

AU - McFarlane, Joanna

PY - 2022/10

Y1 - 2022/10

N2 - Molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies are receiving significant interest for commercialization because of their potential safety features and efficient energy production. In addition to producing reliable and clean energy, high-value radioisotopes could be harvested from MSRs as an additional revenue stream. Although significant quantities of 99Mo will be produced in MSRs through fission, how accessible 99Mo will be for direct recovery from a fuel salt is unclear. Electrolytic processes in fused salts have been used extensively for processing molten salts and have the potential to enable the extraction of 99Mo directly from the fuel salt. This paper reviews the behavior of 99Mo in the molten salt reactor experiment and summarizes theoretical aspects of the electrolytic process in high-temperature fused salt and the published experimental results on Mo extraction through electrolytic processes. The general principle of fused-salt electrolytic processes is described, by electrodeposition of Mo with the following aspects: electrowinning, electrorefining, electroplating, and electroextraction with several experimental considerations. Finally, important considerations for recovery of 99Mo from MSR relevant molten salts via electrodeposition are discussed.

AB - Molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies are receiving significant interest for commercialization because of their potential safety features and efficient energy production. In addition to producing reliable and clean energy, high-value radioisotopes could be harvested from MSRs as an additional revenue stream. Although significant quantities of 99Mo will be produced in MSRs through fission, how accessible 99Mo will be for direct recovery from a fuel salt is unclear. Electrolytic processes in fused salts have been used extensively for processing molten salts and have the potential to enable the extraction of 99Mo directly from the fuel salt. This paper reviews the behavior of 99Mo in the molten salt reactor experiment and summarizes theoretical aspects of the electrolytic process in high-temperature fused salt and the published experimental results on Mo extraction through electrolytic processes. The general principle of fused-salt electrolytic processes is described, by electrodeposition of Mo with the following aspects: electrowinning, electrorefining, electroplating, and electroextraction with several experimental considerations. Finally, important considerations for recovery of 99Mo from MSR relevant molten salts via electrodeposition are discussed.

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KW - Electrowinning

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