This paper discusses operational and criticality safety experience associated with the Idaho National Laboratory Fuel Conditioning Facility which uses a pyrometallurgical process to treat spent fast reactor metallic fuel. The process is conducted in an inert atmosphere hot cell. The process starts with chopping metallic fuel elements into a basket. The basket is lowered into molten salt (LiCl-KCl) along with a steel mandrel. Active metal fission products, transuranic metals and sodium metal in the spent fuel undergo chemical oxidation and form chlorides. Voltage is applied between the basket, which serves as an anode, and the mandrel, which serves as a cathode, causing metallic uranium in the spent fuel to undergo electro-chemical oxidation thereby forming uranium chloride. Simultaneously at the cathode, uranium chloride undergoes electro-chemical reduction and deposits uranium metal onto the mandrel. The uranium metal and accompanying entrained salt are placed in a distillation furnace where the uranium melts forming an ingot and the entrained salt boils and subsequently condenses in a separate crucible. The uranium ingots are placed in long term storage. During the ten year operating history, over one hundred criticality safety evaluations were prepared. All criticality safety related limits and controls for the entire process are contained in a single document which required over thirty revisions to accommodate the process changes.
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