Patent ID: 8192704

Claim:
An atmospheric pressure plasma fluoride method of extracting uranium from spent nuclear fuel (SNF) particles (containing oxides of uranium (U), fission products (FP), and transuranic (TRU) elements (including plutonium)), comprising: a) volumetrically subjecting said SNF particles to an atmospheric pressure pulsed microwave induced plasma of hydrogen to reduce said oxides of uranium, FP, and TRU from their oxide state; b) volumetrically subjecting said SNF particles to an atmospheric pressure pulsed microwave induced plasma of fluorine to form gaseous uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ), solid FP tetrafluorides ((FP)F 4 ), and solid TRU tetra-fluorides ((TRU)F 4 ); c) during subjection of said SNF particles to said fluorine plasma, maintaining the temperature in the range of 1200-2000 K to: i) allow any PuF 6 (gas) that is formed to decompose back to PuF 4 (solid) and ii) maintain stability of said UF 6 gas; and d) removing said UF 6 .