(676a) Implementation of Time-Dependency Into the Spent Fuel Reprocessing Plant Model

A spent fuel reprocessing plant is comprised of typically six base unit operations: chopping, fuel dissolution, solvent extraction, concentration, conversion, and solidification. Argonne is currently developing a time-dependent reprocessing plant model capable of tracking transient process changes to evaluate their relevancy to material safeguards. Recent efforts have focused on the fuel dissolution and solvent extraction unit operations. The time-dependent solvent extraction model is based on the AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction) code. The steady-state version of AMUSE has been used for over a decade to design flowsheets for advanced spent fuel solvent extraction processes while more recently being used for identifying off-normal process conditions that potentially may be of a concern from a safeguards standpoint. An overview of solvent extraction codes relevant to the PUREX solvent extraction process will be presented and the selection of modifying AMUSE over other existing solvent extraction codes will be addressed. Progress in the development of the time-dependent differential equations for both mass and energy balances being implemented into the time-dependent AMUSE code will be briefly discussed. In addition, progress on the development of a time-dependent dissolver unit operation will also be presented.