uranium processing

uranium processing

Introduction

      preparation of the ore for use in various products.

      Uranium (U), although very dense (19.1 grams per cubic centimetre), is a relatively weak, nonrefractory metal. Indeed, the metallic properties of uranium appear to be intermediate between those of silver and other true metals and those of the nonmetallic elements, so that it is not valued for structural applications. The principal value of uranium is in the radioactive and fissionable properties of its isotopes. In nature, almost all (99.27 percent) of the metal consists of uranium-238; the remainder consists of uranium-235 (0.72 percent) and uranium-234 (0.006 percent). Of these naturally occurring isotopes, only uranium-235 is directly fissionable by neutron irradiation. However, uranium-238, upon absorbing a neutron, forms uranium-239, and this latter isotope eventually decays into plutonium-239—a fissile material of great importance in nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Another fissile isotope, uranium-233, can be formed by neutron irradiation of thorium-232.

      Even at room temperature, finely divided uranium metal reacts with oxygen and nitrogen. At higher temperatures it reacts with a wide variety of alloying metals to form intermetallic compounds. Solid-solution formation with other metals occurs only rarely, owing to the singular crystalline structures formed by uranium atoms. Between room temperature and its melting point of 1,132° C (2,070° F), uranium metal exists in three crystalline forms known as the alpha (α), beta (β), and gamma (γ) phases. Transformation from the alpha to the beta phase occurs at 668° C (1,234° F) and from the beta to the gamma phase at 775° C (1,427° F). Gamma uranium has a body-centred cubic (bcc) crystal structure, while beta uranium has a tetragonal structure. The alpha phase, however, consists of corrugated sheets of atoms in a highly asymmetrical orthorhombic structure. This anisotropic (anisotropy), or distorted, structure makes it difficult for the atoms of alloying metals to substitute for uranium atoms or to occupy spaces between uranium atoms in the crystal lattice. Only molybdenum and niobium have been observed to form solid-solution alloys with uranium.

History
      The German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth (Klaproth, Martin Heinrich) is credited with discovering the element uranium in 1789 in a sample of pitchblende. Klaproth named the new element after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered in 1781. It was not until 1841, however, that the French chemist Eugène-Melchior Péligot showed that the black metallic substance obtained by Klaproth was really the compound uranium dioxide. Péligot prepared actual uranium metal by reducing uranium tetrachloride with potassium metal.

      Prior to the discovery and elucidation of nuclear fission, the few practical uses of uranium (and these were very small) were in the colouring of ceramics and as a catalyst in certain specialized applications. Today, uranium is highly valued for nuclear applications, both military and commercial, and even low-grade ores have great economic worth. Uranium metal is routinely produced by means of the Ames process, developed by the American chemist F.H. Spedding (Spedding, Frank Harold) and his colleagues in 1942 at Iowa State University, Ames. In this process, the metal is obtained from uranium tetrafluoride by thermal reduction with magnesium.

Ores
      The Earth's crust contains about two parts per million uranium, reflecting a wide distribution in nature. The oceans are estimated to contain 4.5 × 109 tons of the element. Uranium occurs as a significant constituent in more than 150 different minerals and as a minor component of another 50 minerals. Primary uranium minerals, found in magmatic hydrothermal veins and in pegmatites, include uraninite and pitchblende (the latter a variety of uraninite). The uranium in these two ores occurs in the form of uranium dioxide, which—owing to oxidation—can vary in exact chemical composition from UO2 to UO2.67. Other uranium ores of economic importance are autunite, a hydrated calcium uranyl phosphate; tobernite, a hydrated copper uranyl phosphate; coffinite, a black hydrated uranium silicate; and carnotite, a yellow hydrated potassium uranyl vanadate.

      It is estimated that more than 90 percent of known low-cost uranium reserves occur in Canada, South Africa, the United States, Australia, Niger, Namibia, Brazil, Algeria, and France. About 50 to 60 percent of these reserves are in the conglomerate rock formations of Elliot Lake, located north of Lake Huron in Ontario, Can., and in the Witwatersrand goldfields of South Africa. Sandstone formations in the Colorado Plateau and Wyoming Basin of the western United States also contain significant reserves of uranium.

Mining and concentrating
      Uranium ores occur in deposits that are both near-surface and very deep (e.g., 300 to 1,200 metres, or 1,000 to 4,000 feet). The deep ores sometimes occur in seams as thick as 30 metres. As is the case with ores of other metals, surface uranium ores are readily mined with large earth-moving equipment, while deep deposits are mined by traditional vertical-shaft and drift methods.

      Uranium ores typically contain only a small amount of uranium-bearing minerals, and these are not amenable to smelting by direct pyrometallurgical methods; instead, hydrometallurgical (hydrometallurgy) procedures must be used to extract and purify the uranium values. Physical concentration would greatly reduce the load on hydrometallurgical processing circuits, but none of the conventional beneficiation methods typically employed in mineral processing—e.g., gravity, flotation, electrostatics, and even hand sorting—are generally applicable to uranium ores. With few exceptions, concentration methods result in excessive loss of uranium to tailings.

Extraction and refining

Roasting
      The hydrometallurgical processing of uranium ores is frequently preceded by a high-temperature calcination step. Roasting dehydrates the clay content of many ores, removes carbonaceous materials, oxidizes sulfur compounds to innocuous sulfates, and oxidizes any other reductants that may interfere in subsequent leaching operations.

Leaching
      Roasted uranium ores are leached of their uranium values by both acidic and alkaline aqueous solutions. For the successful operation of all leaching systems, uranium must either be initially present in the more stable hexavalent state or be oxidized to that state in the leaching process.

      Acid leaching is commonly performed by agitating an ore-leach mixture for 4 to as long as 48 hours at ambient temperature. Except in special circumstances, sulfuric acid is the leachant used; it is supplied in amounts sufficient to obtain a final leach liquor at about pH 1.5. Sulfuric acid leaching circuits commonly employ either manganese dioxide or chlorate ion to oxidize the tetravalent uranium ion (U4+) to the hexavalent uranyl ion (UO22+). Typically, about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of manganese dioxide or 1.5 kilograms of sodium chlorate per ton suffice to oxidize tetravalent uranium. In any case, the oxidized uranium reacts with the sulfuric acid to form a uranyl sulfate complex anion, [UO2(SO4)3]4-.

      Uranium ores that contain significant amounts of basic minerals such as calcite or dolomite are leached with 0.5 to 1 molar sodium carbonate solutions. Although a variety of reagents has been studied and tested, oxygen is the uranium oxidant of choice. Typically, candidate ores are leached in air at atmospheric pressure and at 75° to 80° C (167° to 175° F) for periods that vary with the particular ore. The alkaline leachant reacts with uranium to form a readily soluble uranyl carbonate complex ion, [UO2(CO3)3]4-.

      Prior to further processing, solutions resulting from either acidic or carbonate leaching must be clarified. Large-scale separation of clays and other ore slimes is accomplished through the use of effective flocculants, including polyacrylamides, guar gum, and animal glue.

Treatment of uranium leachates
      The complex ions [UO2(CO3)3]4- and [UO2(SO4)3]4- can be sorbed from their respective leach solutions by ion-exchange resins (ion-exchange resin). These special resins—characterized by their sorption and elution kinetics, particle size, stability, and hydraulic properties—can be used in a variety of processing equipment—e.g., fixed-bed, moving-bed, basket resin-in-pulp, and continuous resin-in-pulp. Conventionally, sodium and ammonium chloride or nitrate solutions are then used to elute the sorbed uranium from the exchange resins.

      Uranium can also be removed from acidic ore leach-liquors through solvent extraction. In industrial methods, alkyl phosphoric acids—e.g., di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid—and secondary and tertiary alkyl amines are the usual solvents. As a general rule, solvent extraction is preferred over ion-exchange methods for acidic leachates containing more than one gram of uranium per litre. Solvent extraction is not useful for recovery of uranium from carbonate leach liquors, however.

Precipitation (chemical precipitation) of yellow cake
      Prior to final purification, uranium present in acidic solutions produced by the ion-exchange or solvent-extraction processes described above, as well as uranium dissolved in carbonate ore leach solutions, is typically precipitated as a polyuranate. From acidic solutions, uranium is precipitated by addition of neutralizers such as sodium hydroxide, magnesia, or (most commonly) aqueous ammonia. Uranium is usually precipitated as ammonium diuranate, (NH4)2U2O7. From alkaline solutions, uranium is most often precipitated by addition of sodium hydroxide, producing an insoluble sodium diuranate, Na2U2O7. It can also be precipitated by acidification (to remove carbon dioxide) and then neutralization (to remove the uranium) or by reduction to less soluble tetravalent uranium. In all cases, the final uranium precipitate, commonly referred to as yellow cake, is dried. In some cases—e.g., with ammonium diuranate—the yellow cake is ignited, driving off the ammonia and oxidizing the uranium to produce uranium trioxide (UO3) or the more complex triuranium octoxide (U3O8). In all cases, the final product is shipped to a central uranium-purification facility.

Refining of yellow cake
      Uranium meeting nuclear-grade specifications is usually obtained from yellow cake through a tributyl phosphate solvent-extraction process. First, the yellow cake is dissolved in nitric acid to prepare a feed solution. Uranium is then selectively extracted from this acid feed by tributyl phosphate diluted with kerosene or some other suitable hydrocarbon mixture. Finally, uranium is stripped from the tributyl phosphate extract into acidified water to yield a highly purified uranyl nitrate, UO2(NO3)2.

Conversion and isotopic enrichment
      Uranyl nitrate is produced by the ore-processing operations described above as well as by solvent extraction from irradiated nuclear reactor fuel (described below, see Conversion to plutonium). In either case, it is an excellent starting material for conversion to uranium metal or for eventual enrichment of the uranium-235 content. Both of these routes conventionally begin with calcining the nitrate to UO3 and then reducing the trioxide with hydrogen to uranium dioxide (UO2). Subsequent treatment of powdered UO2 with gaseous hydrogen fluoride (HF) at 550° C (1,025° F) produces uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) and water vapour, as in the following reaction:

      This hydrofluorination process is usually performed in a fluidized-bed reactor.

      Conversion to uranium metal is accomplished through the Ames process, in which UF4 is reduced with magnesium (Mg) at temperatures exceeding 1,300° C (2,375° F). (In an often-used modification of the Ames process, calcium metal is substituted for magnesium.) Because the vapour pressure of magnesium metal is very high at 1,300° C, the reduction reaction is performed in a refractory-lined, sealed container, or “bomb.” Bombs charged with granular UF4 and finely divided Mg (the latter in excess) are heated to 500° to 700° C (930° to 1,300° F), at which point an exothermic (heat-producing) reaction occurs. The heat of reaction is sufficient to liquefy the conversion contents of the bomb, which are essentially metallic uranium and a slag of magnesium fluoride (MgF2):

      When the bomb is cooled to ambient temperature, the massive uranium metal obtained is, despite its hydrogen content, the best-quality uranium metal available commercially and is well suited for rolling into fuel shapes for nuclear reactors.

      Uranium tetrafluoride can also be fluorinated at 350° C (660° F) with fluorine gas to volatile uranium hexafluoride (UF6), which is fractionally distilled to produce high-purity feedstock for isotopic enrichment. Any of several methods—gaseous diffusion, gas centrifugation, liquid thermal diffusion—can be employed to separate and concentrate the fissile uranium-235 isotope into several grades, from low-enrichment (2 to 3 percent uranium-235) to fully enriched (97 to 99 percent uranium-235). Low-enrichment uranium is typically used as fuel for light-water nuclear reactors.

      After enrichment, UF6 is reacted in the gaseous state with water vapour to yield hydrated uranyl fluoride (UO2F2 · H2O). Hydrogen reduction of the uranyl fluoride produces powdered UO2, which can be used to prepare ceramic nuclear reactor fuel (see below Chemical compounds: Oxide fuels (uranium processing)). In addition, UO2 obtained from enriched UF6 or from UF6 that has been depleted of its uranium-235 content can be hydrofluorinated to yield UF4, and the tetrafluoride can then be converted to uranium metal in the Ames process described above.

Conversion to plutonium
      The nonfissile uranium-238 can be converted to fissile plutonium-239 by the following nuclear reactions:

      In this equation, uranium-238, through the absorption of a neutron (n) and the emission of a quantum of energy known as a gamma ray (γ), becomes the isotope uranium-239 (the higher mass number reflecting the presence of one more neutron in the nucleus). Over a certain period of time (23.5 minutes), this radioactive isotope loses a negatively charged electron, or beta particle (β-); this loss of a negative charge raises the positive charge of the atom by one proton, so that it is effectively transformed into the element neptunium (Np; with an atomic number of 93, one more than uranium). Neptunium-239 in turn undergoes beta decay, being transformed into plutonium-239 (atomic number 94).

      Uranium and plutonium are recovered from irradiated nuclear fuel through the widely practiced plutonium-uranium extraction, or Purex, process. In this solvent-extraction process, the fuel cladding encasing nuclear fuel elements (typically made of aluminum, magnesium, or zirconium alloys) is removed either chemically or mechanically, and the metal or oxide fuel is dissolved in nitric acid. Plutonium and uranium are then coextracted into a tributyl phosphate solution, while practically all the fission products and nonradioactive components are left in the aqueous raffinate. The loaded organic extract is contacted with an aqueous phase containing any of several possible reductants to separate the plutonium from the uranium, and uranium is stripped from the tributyl phosphate solution into a dilute nitric acid solution. Additional extraction-strip cycles are performed as needed with the separated uranium and plutonium streams in order to complete purification from each other and from traces of coextracted fission-product zirconium and ruthenium.

      Purified uranium nitrate is calcined to an oxide (either UO3 or U3O8) for subsequent conversion to UF6 and enrichment of the uranium-235 content, as described above. Purified plutonium nitrate is converted to plutonium dioxide (PuO2) either for conversion to plutonium metal (weapons-grade plutonium) or for recycling into nuclear reactor fuel. Like uranium, metallic plutonium is usually obtained by high-temperature reduction of a halide salt (plutonium tetrafluoride or plutonium trifluoride) with calcium metal. Much use is also made of the so-called direct oxidation-reduction process, whereby PuO2 is reduced with calcium metal to plutonium metal and a calcium oxide slag:

The metal and its alloys (alloy)

Reactor-grade uranium
      Uranium metal intended for use in production reactors to produce plutonium-239 is rolled into round billets typically 23 centimetres (9 inches) in diameter and 51 centimetres long. Metallic uranium fuel elements for power reactors (nuclear reactor) are prepared by hot extrusion of the uranium into tubing made of Zircaloy, a corrosion-resistant alloy of zirconium and tin. Uranium fuel elements can also be clad in alloys of magnesium and aluminum.

      Uranium reacts with a large variety of other metals to form intermetallic compounds, solid solutions, or (in a few instances) true alloys. Many of these systems have been exploited to prepare reactor fuels that possess increased resistance to in-reactor corrosion and radiation damage as well as greater mechanical strength than pure uranium metal. Examples include low-enrichment uranium-molybdenum and uranium-aluminum alloys.

      Even though uranium and plutonium are completely miscible, the plutonium-uranium system is not suitable for nuclear applications. As described above, uranium exists in three crystal structures between ambient temperature and its melting point of 1,132° C (2,070° F). Plutonium metal undergoes five phase transformations below its melting temperature of 640° C (1,183° F). Transformation from one phase to the next occurs no matter what the concentration of either element, thereby preventing use of plutonium-uranium alloys over a major temperature range. However, the addition of zirconium—for example, in a fuel containing 20 percent plutonium, 10 percent zirconium, and 70 percent uranium—can yield a metallic system completely adaptable to reactor use.

Depleted uranium
      Uranium fuel elements can be sheathed in a metallic blanket containing, for example, 10 percent zirconium and 90 percent uranium depleted of its uranium-235 content. The depleted uranium, consisting almost completely of uranium-238, captures neutrons that are emitted in the fission of the fuel elements, thus producing (or “breeding”) plutonium-239 simultaneous with the generation of nuclear power.

      Certain alloys of depleted uranium are also used in armour for tanks and other military vehicles. Because of its very high density, uranium metal is well suited for this purpose as well as for armour-piercing projectiles.

Chemical compounds

oxide fuels
      Pellets made of low-enrichment UO2 are universally employed as fuel in commercial light-water reactors that produce electrical energy. The pellets are made by blending appropriate quantities of enriched and natural or depleted UO2 powders, mechanically compacting them, adding an organic binder, pressing into pellets, heating to burn off the binder, and finally sintering at high temperature to 95 percent theoretical density. Fuel pins are fabricated by loading the pellets into a Zircaloy tube.

      Similar procedures are employed to fabricate mixed uranium-plutonium dioxide (MOX) pellets for use in fast-neutron breeder reactors. Unirradiated MOX fuel typically contains 20 to 35 percent plutonium dioxide.

carbide fuels
      Various uranium and plutonium carbides are known, including the monocarbides (UC, PuC), the sesquicarbides (U2C3, Pu2C3), and the dicarbides (UC2, PuC2). Because they are highly refractory, these compounds have been much investigated for use as fuels for nuclear reactors. For example, the fuel in the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) consists of highly enriched uranium, together with thorium as a fertile material; each is in the form of carbide pellets embedded in a dense form of graphite.

nitride fuels
      Uranium forms a mononitride (UN) and two higher nitride phases (alpha- and beta-sesquinitrides; α = U2N3 and β = U2N3), whereas plutonium forms only a mononitride. Both uranium and plutonium nitrides are brittle, refractory compounds that melt at temperatures generally above 2,000° C (3,600° F). This latter property makes the mononitrides attractive as possible high-performance nuclear reactor fuels.

Wallace W. Schulz

Additional Reading
Comprehensive and up-to-date information on many aspects of metallurgy, individual metals, and alloys can be found in convenient reference-form arrangement in the following works: Metals Handbook, 9th ed., 17 vol. (1978–89), a massive and detailed source prepared under the direction of the American Society for Metals, with a 10th edition that began publication in 1990; Herman F. Mark et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd ed., 31 vol. (1978–84), formerly known as Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, with a 4th edition begun in 1991; and its European counterpart, the first English-language edition of a monumental German work, Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 5th, completely rev. ed., edited by Wolfgang Gerhartz et al. (1985– ). Ed. Joseph J. Katz, Glenn T. Seaborg, and Lester L. Morss, The Chemistry of the Actinide Elements, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1986), presents both the theoretical and descriptive features of the chemistry of thorium, uranium, and plutonium in a logical and extremely well-written manner; the coverage is extensive—from properties of individual isotopes to the technology for reprocessing irradiated reactor fuels—and is very lucid. Gmelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie, 8th ed., vol. A1 (1979), A3 (1981), and A4 (1982), is unquestionably the most comprehensive and authoritative source of information and data for all facets of thorium, uranium, and plutonium chemistry, physics, and metallurgy; compiled by recognized world-class experts and updated regularly, these volumes are the definitive reference in the field. Walter D. Wilkinson, Uranium Metallurgy, vol. 1, Uranium Process Metallurgy (1962); and Robert C. Merritt, The Extractive Metallurgy of Uranium (1971), although older references, still contain a wealth of timely information concerning the mining and milling of uranium ores as well as the extractive metallurgical procedures used to process ores to purified uranium metal; both works should be consulted for in-depth discussion of the metallurgy of uranium metal.Wallace W. Schulz

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