Uranium Production
Uranium Production
Uranium processing is closely related to uranium fuel cycle and consists of four steps which may be distinguished by processed isotopes. The main products are uranium compounds with natural isotopes ratio (the goal is concentration and refinement, preparation for isotopes separation and Pu manufacturing); compounds enriched by Uranium-235 (for nuclear power setups fuel elements in the form of uranium dioxide or alloys, as well as nuclear weapon production); compounds with depleted uranium for safe storage and alternative use; compounds obtained from irradiated nuclear fuel for radiochemical manufacturing: Plutonium and Neptunium separation, refining from fission products, preparation for isotopes separation and fuel elements recycling). Also the uranium-thorium nuclear fuel cycle technologies (high-temperature nuclear reactors which utilize the mixture of thorium-232 and Uranium-233 oxides or carbides) as well as the uranium-plutonium cycle are founded (fast neutron reactor reactors with Plutonium-239 and Uranium-238 dioxides mixture as fuel).