美国能源部的科学家Argonne National Laboratory已经使用3D打印来创建一种新的重复核废料的方法，该方法可以允许回收多达97％。
The novel process could increase the percentage of fuel that scientists are able to reuse from 95 percent under existing processes, to 97 percent. While this may not initially appear to represent major progress, it could significantly reduce the amount of used fuel that needs to be stored, and the time it remains hazardous for.
Argonne核化学家兼合着者安德鲁·布雷什斯（Andrew Breshears）说：“数十万年来，剩下的3％必须最多存储约一千年。”“换句话说，这一附加步骤可能会减少存储长度的长度，将近一千倍。”
3D打印如何减少核废料
尽管核能是一个已建立且可靠的电力来源，但扩展的一个障碍是管理和处置核裂变的放射性副产品。如果耗费的燃油排放速率保持其当前水平，则在美国的98个运行的商业核电反应堆将需要在2040年之前存储126,000公吨的二手核燃料（UNF）。
Argonne scientists found that 97 percent of the fissionable content of this fuel could be recovered and reused. To achieve this, they extended the existing Actinide Lanthanide Separation Process (ALSEP) which was introduced in 2013, in order to separate the so-called minor actinides (MA), including neptunium (Np), americium (Am), and curium (Cm).
由于其速度和兼容性优势，使用液体到液体提取方法，新过程被设计为最简单，标准化的方法，基于最小调整并产生最大的稳定性。在此过程中使用3D打印来创建1.25 cm离心机的库。连接后，接触器启用连续的后处理循环。
The more efficient ALSEP process
The new method begins at the end of the existing Plutonium Uranium Reduction Extraction (PUREX) process, with nuclear fuel from which uranium, plutonium, and neptunium have been extracted. This liquid mixture is introduced into one side of a row of 20 3D printed contactors, and a blend of industrial chemicals that were designed to separate the actinides are inserted into the other. The centrifuges are then spun to create an outward (or centrifugal) force that separates the substances inside.
在Argonne的研究实验室进行的测试期间，Americium和CM与完成的99.9％以上。发现使用模拟拉芬酸酯的AM/CM产品流的杂质之和为3.2×10−3 g/L. In addition, separation factors of nearly 100 for154欧盟结束了241达到了AM，表明该过程在工程规模上是可扩展的。
The centrifugal contactors were critical to the process, and 3D printing allowed the complex fluid devices to be manufactured with internal channels, and as a single component. In addition, multiple contactor stages were integrated into single multi-stage modules, reducing the effort required for installation, and eliminating potential failure points.
不仅使用3D打印来产生接触器加速过程，而且设备的设计提供了防止核增殖的额外保护层。连接20个接触器内部运行的20个接触器的试管，使得很难访问和将放射性材料转移到非civil核实践中。
Following a 36 phase blueprint, and taking over 20 hours to complete the separation, the method is still in its early stages of development. The researchers are continuing to explore new ways to reduce the size of the process and achieve greater separation.
Argonne国家实验室和3D印刷
Argonne研究团队一直在开发和实验3D打印技术的新应用，并在2020年3月宣布，他们成功地扩大了该应用程序钼99同位素的回收使用3D打印零件。他们希望使用新的设备提高回收过程的效率，从而使生产商从昂贵的富集钼储备中产生更多的MO-99。
Working with scientists from卡内基·梅隆大学in February last year, Argonne researchers usedhigh-speed x-ray imagingto study the keyhole effect in powder-based metal 3D printing. The research helped 3D printing manufacturers to better understand how pores develop in metals during the printing process and deliver end-use products that are less prone to cracking and general weakness.
同样，与美国能源部合作，Argonne National Laboratory的研究人员生产了'深潜’进入金属3D打印机内部发生的激光融化。雷电竞app下载这项研究促成了一系列研究，以改善增材制造过程并提高全球行业的采用。雷电竞充值
The researchers’ findings are detailed in their paper titled “通过简化的小肌动蛋白型灯笼分离工艺（ALSEP）和添加剂制造来关闭核燃料循环雷电竞充值，”科学报告日记2019年9月。由Artem V. Gelis，Peter Kozak，Andrew T. Breshears，M。AlexBrown，Cari Launiere，Emily L. Campbell，Gabriel B. Hall，Tatiana G. Levitskaia，Vanessa E. Holfeltz和Gregg J. Lumetta合着。
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Feature image 3D printed contactor. Photo via Argonne National Laboratory.
