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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Progress Towards Synthesis of Uranium Chloride Fuel Salts Using Zinc Chloride

Reliable, scalable methods for producing high-purity actinide chloride salts are needed to support molten salt reactor fuel development and deployment. This report describes the continued development and demonstration of a bench-scale chlorination and purification apparatus using a zinc chloride-based method for synthesizing uranium chloride fuel salts. In this approach, uranium metal is chlorinated by ZnCl2 to produce LiCl-KCl-UCl3. Reaction with three aliquots of added uranium metal was used to generate a target uranium concentration of 30 wt %. While this concentration was chosen for initial testing of the apparatus and method, the final uranium concentration is not limited to 30 wt %. The zinc metal generated in the reaction forms an immiscible layer that was removed by volatilization at moderately high temperatures. Electrochemical measurements confirmed the removal of zinc and applied sensing methods indicated the uranium concentration to be approximately 25 wt %. These initial results demonstrate that the bench-scale chlorination apparatus is an effective platform for the synthesis and purification of uranium chloride salts using ZnCl2. This method shows promise for application to industry-relevant salt systems such as NaCl-UCl3. Further development is recommended to optimize reagent loading, zinc removal, and avoid possible U-Zn alloy formation.

Dulovic, Stephanie↗
DOE OSTI2020

Materials Data on U2Zn17 by Materials Project

U2Zn17 crystallizes in the trigonal R-3m space group. The structure is three-dimensional. U is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to nineteen Zn atoms. There are a spread of U–Zn bond distances ranging from 3.12–3.43 Å. There are four inequivalent Zn sites. In the first Zn site, Zn is bonded to three equivalent U and nine Zn atoms to form distorted ZnU3Zn9 cuboctahedra that share corners with twenty-three ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra, edges with ten ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra, and faces with twenty ZnU3Zn9 cuboctahedra. There are a spread of Zn–Zn bond distances ranging from 2.54–2.86 Å. In the second Zn site, Zn is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to one U and thirteen Zn atoms. There are a spread of Zn–Zn bond distances ranging from 2.68–2.99 Å. In the third Zn site, Zn is bonded to two equivalent U and ten Zn atoms to form distorted ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra that share corners with twenty-two ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra, edges with ten ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra, and faces with eighteen ZnU3Zn9 cuboctahedra. All Zn–Zn bond lengths are 2.59 Å. In the fourth Zn site, Zn is bonded to two equivalent U and ten Zn atoms to form distorted ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra that share corners with twenty-four ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra, edges with five ZnU2Zn10 cuboctahedra, and faces with twenty-one ZnU3Zn9 cuboctahedra. Both Zn–Zn bond lengths are 2.67 Å.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Materials Data on UZn3 by Materials Project

UZn3 crystallizes in the hexagonal P6_3/mmc space group. The structure is three-dimensional. U is bonded to twelve equivalent Zn atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and face-sharing UZn12 cuboctahedra. There are six shorter (2.97 Å) and six longer (3.17 Å) U–Zn bond lengths. Zn is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to four equivalent U and six equivalent Zn atoms. There are four shorter (2.74 Å) and two longer (2.85 Å) Zn–Zn bond lengths.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗