Scrap materials containing plutonium (Pu) metal are currently being transferred from the FB Line vault to HB Line for dissolution and subsequent disposition through the H-Canyon facility. Some of the items scheduled for dissolution contain both Pu and beryllium (Be) metal as a composite material. The Pu and Be metals were physically separated to minimize the amount of Be associated with the Pu; however, the dissolution flowsheet was required to dissolve small amounts of Be combined with the Pu metal using a dissolving solution containing nitric acid (HNO3) and potassium fluoride (KF). Since the dissolution of Pu metal in HNO3/fluoride (F-) solutions is well understood, the primary focus of the experimental program was the dissolution of Be metal. Initially, small-scale experiments were used to measure the dissolution rate of Be metal foils using conditions effective for the dissolution of Pu metal. The experiments demonstrated that the dissolution rate was nearly independent of the HNO3 concentration over the limited range of investigation and only a moderate to weak function of the F- concentration. The effect of temperature was more pronounced, significantly increasing the dissolution rate between 40 and 105 degrees C. The offgas from three Be metal foil dissolutions was collected and characterized. The production of hydrogen (H2) was found to be sensitive to the HNO3 concentration, decreasing by a factor of approximately two when the HNO3 was increased from 4 to 8 M. This result is consistent with the dissolution mechanism shifting away from a typical metal/acid reaction toward increased production of nitrogen oxides by nitrate (NO3-) oxidation.
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