Process for producing enriched uranium having a {sup 235}U content of at least 4 wt. % via combination of a gaseous diffusion process and an atomic vapor laser isotope separation process to eliminate uranium hexafluoride tails storage

Title: Process for producing enriched uranium having a {sup 235}U content of at least 4 wt. % via combination of a gaseous diffusion process and an atomic vapor laser isotope separation process to eliminate uranium hexafluoride tails storage

Full Record
Similar

An uranium enrichment process capable of producing an enriched uranium, having a {sup 235}U content greater than about 4 wt. %, is disclosed which will consume less energy and produce metallic uranium tails having a lower {sup 235}U content than the tails normally produced in a gaseous diffusion separation process and, therefore, eliminate UF{sub 6} tails storage and sharply reduce fluorine use. The uranium enrichment process comprises feeding metallic uranium into an atomic vapor laser isotope separation process to produce an enriched metallic uranium isotopic mixture having a {sup 235} U content of at least about 2 wt. % and a metallic uranium residue containing from about 0.1 wt. % to about 0.2 wt. % {sup 235} U; fluorinating this enriched metallic uranium isotopic mixture to form UF{sub 6}; processing the resultant isotopic mixture of UF{sub 6} in a gaseous diffusion process to produce a final enriched uranium product having a {sup 235}U content of at least 4 wt. %, and up to 93.5 wt. % or higher, of the total uranium content of the product, and a low {sup 235}U content UF{sub 6} having a {sup 235}U content of about 0.71 wt. % of the total uranium content ofmore »

Inventors:: Horton, J.A.; Hayden, H.W. Jr.

Issue Date:: 1995-05-30

OSTI Identifier:: 63442

Assignee:: Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States) PTO; SCA: 050500; PA: EDB-95:089188; SN: 95001401195

Patent Number(s):: US 5,419,820/A/

Application Number:: PAN: 8-070,741

Contract Number:: W-7405-ENG-48

Resource Relation:: Other Information: PBD: 30 May 1995

Research Org:: University of California

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 05 NUCLEAR FUELS; URANIUM 235; GASEOUS DIFFUSION PROCESS; LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION; HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM; SLIGHTLY ENRICHED URANIUM; MODERATELY ENRICHED URANIUM; PRODUCTION; FLUORINATION; URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE; RECYCLING; MINIMIZATION; ENERGY CONSERVATION

Full Text
Patents / Patent Applications
Search for the full text at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Similar records in DOepatents and OSTI.GOV collections:

Process for producing enriched uranium having a .sup.235 U content of at least 4 wt. % via combination of a gaseous diffusion process and an atomic vapor laser isotope separation process to eliminate uranium hexafluoride tails storage

Patent Horton, James A. ; Hayden, Jr., Howard W.

An uranium enrichment process capable of producing an enriched uranium, having a .sup.235 U content greater than about 4 wt. %, is disclosed which will consume less energy and produce metallic uranium tails having a lower .sup.235 U content than the tails normally produced in a gaseous diffusion separation process and, therefore, eliminate UF.sub.6 tails storage and sharply reduce fluorine use. The uranium enrichment process comprises feeding metallic uranium into an atomic vapor laser isotope separation process to produce an enriched metallic uranium isotopic mixture having a .sup.235 U content of at least about 2 wt. % and a metallicmore »« less
Full Text Available January 1995
Environmental site description for a Uranium Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (U-AVLIS) production plant at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site

Technical Report - in OSTI.gov collection Marmer, G.J. ; Dunn, C.P. ; Filley, T.H. ; Moeller, K.L. ; Pfingston, J.M. ; Policastro, A.J. ; Cleland, J.H.

Uranium enrichment in the United States has utilized a diffusion process to preferentially enrich the U-235 isotope in the uranium product. In the 1970s, the US Department of Energy (DOE) began investigating more efficient and cost-effective enrichment technologies. In January 1990, the Secretary of Energy approved a plan for the demonstration and deployment of the Uranium Atomic Vapor Laser isotope Separation (U-AVLIS) technology with the near-term goal to provide the necessary information to make a deployment decision by November 1992. Initial facility operation is anticipated for 1999. A programmatic document for use in screening DOE sites to locate a U-AVLISmore »« less
Full Text Available September 1991
Environmental site description for a Uranium Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (U-AVLIS) production plant at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site

Technical Report - in OSTI.gov collection Marmer, G.J. ; Dunn, C.P. ; Moeller, K.L. ; Pfingston, J.M. ; Policastro, A.J. ; Yuen, C.R. ; Cleland, J.H.

Uranium enrichment in the United States has utilized a diffusion process to preferentially enrich the U-235 isotope in the uranium product. The U-AVLIS process is based on electrostatic extraction of photoionized U-235 atoms from an atomic vapor stream created by electron-beam vaporization of uranium metal alloy. The U-235 atoms are ionized when precisely tuned laser light -- of appropriate power, spectral, and temporal characteristics -- illuminates the uranium vapor and selectively photoionizes the U-235 isotope. A programmatic document for use in screening DOE site to locate a U-AVLIS production plant was developed and implemented in two parts. The first partmore »« less
Full Text Available September 1991
Environmental site description for a Uranium Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (U-AVLIS) production plant at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site

Technical Report - in OSTI.gov collection Not Available

In January 1990, the Secretary of Energy approved a plan for the demonstration and deployment of the Uranium Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (U-AVLIS) technology, with the near-term goal to provide the necessary information to make a deployment decision by November 1992. The U-AVLIS process is based on electrostatic extraction of photoionized U-235 atoms from an atomic vapor stream created by electron-beam vaporization of uranium metal alloy. A programmatic document for use in screening DOE sites to locate the U-AVLIS production plant was developed and implemented in two parts (Wolsko et al. 1991). The first part consisted of a seriesmore »« less
Full Text Available September 1991
Criticality experiments with subcritical clusters of 2. 35 wt % and 4. 29 wt % /sup 235/U enriched UO/sub 2/ rods in water with uranium or lead reflecting walls

Technical Report - in OSTI.gov collection Bierman, S.R. ; Durst, B.M. ; Clayton, E.D.

A series of criticality experiments with 2.35 wt % and 4.29 wt % /sup 235/U enriched UO/sub 2/ rods in water have provided well defined benchmark type data showing that both depleted uranium and lead reflecting walls submerged in the water reflector, are better neutron reflectors than water alone. For each fuel enrichment the critical separation between three subcritical, near optimally moderated fuel clusters was observed to increase as either 77 mm thick depleted uranium or 102 mm thick lead reflecting walls were moved toward the fuel. The maximum reactivity effect was observed for the depleted uranium with about 20more »« less
March 1979