Patent ID: 8506786

Claim:
A method for recovery of residual actinide elements from a chloride molten salt, comprising: conducting electrolysis using a liquid cadmium cathode (LCC) in a chloride molten salt that is formed after electro-refining and/or electro-winning of a spent nuclear fuel and that contains rare-earth elements as well as actinide elements; electro-depositing the actinide elements contained in the chloride molten salt on the LCC to reduce a concentration of the actinide elements in the chloride molten salt while co-electro-depositing rare-earth elements contained in the chloride molten salt on the LCC; stepwise adding a CdCl 2 oxidant to the chloride molten salt containing the LCC with co-deposited actinide and rare-earth elements to oxidize selectively only the rare-earth elements co-deposited with the actinide elements on the LCC, thereby forming rare-earth chlorides in the chloride molten salt; and recovering actinide elements deposited on the LCC.