Electrolytic reduction behavior of U3O8 in a molten LiCl–Li2O salt

An electrolytic reduction of U3O8 in a molten LiCl–Li2O salt was investigated using the electrochemical techniques of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronopotentiommetry (CP). The electrolytic reduction of U3O8 powder exhibited a different behavior when the initial current density was higher than 200mA/cm2 for 10 g U3O8/batch run. Two kinds of reduction mechanisms, an electro-metallothermic reduction (EMR) and a direct electrochemical reduction (DER) were adopted to explain the resultant behavior. Current efficiencies and reduction products were obtained by a series of constant current runs. Current efficiencies, evaluated for a reduction side, were estimated to be more than 75% throughout a series of constant current runs and lithium uranium oxides (lithium uranates) were detected during the U3O8 reduction to metallic uranium.