Reprocessing of Highly Enriched Aluminum-clad Fuels in the Savannah River Site H-Canyon Facility: Past, Present, and Future

Aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel was used in both retired nuclear weapons program production reactors and in research reactors. Aluminum-clad fuel is intended to be reprocessed – not stored for long periods to time – due to its reduced robustness compared to other cladded fuels. At present, the H-Canyon on the Savannah River Site is the only remaining operational nuclear chemical separations facility in the United States capable of largescale nuclear material processing; aluminum-clad fuels have been and are being reprocessed in the H-Canyon facility to reduce the existing fuel stockpile. This presentation will cover the unique nuclear material processing that is performed in the H-Canyon facility and the presenter’s own research work that has supported it over the past several decades.