The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Depleted Uranium De-Conversion Process - An Economically-Viable Solution
Nuclear power is poised to experience a resurgence, both in terms its widespread use and in positive public perception.
Building concerns about the effects of fossil fuels on the environment, in addition to other factors, are making the nuclear power option seem increasingly viable.
Before uranium can be used in nuclear power plants, it must first be enriched.
During that process, however, only 10% of the natural uranium entering the enrichment process is useable.
The remaining 90% is a by-product of the enrichment process and is referred to as "depleted" uranium or "tails.
" These depleted tails are in a chemically reactive form (UF6) and cannot be disposed - without chemical treatment.
They must either be stored perpetually in enormous steel drums - or it must be de-converted into non-reactive (or less-reactive) solids for safe disposal in landfills.
Historically, there has been no economic incentive for de-converting the depleted UF6 tails, and all of the depleted UF6 that has been created on U.
S.
soil has been simply stored on an ongoing basis since the early 1950's.
However, there is currently a shift taking place from foreign-based enrichment to domestic U.
S.
enrichment.
This shift will cause a massive buildup of these depleted tails at the commercial enrichment sites.
Fortunately, a new type of de-conversion process called the Fluorine Extraction Process (FEP) extracts high-purity fluoride compounds from depleted uranium during the de-conversion process, allowing new and useful products to be created as a result.
This new process helps to create an economic incentive for the de-conversion of the tails.
The Fuel Cycle and Depleted Uranium To understand the role of de-conversion and how the FEP can accomplish it more efficiently than with traditional de-conversion processes, a short overview of the nuclear fuel cycle is in order: 1.
A form of uranium, enriched in the U235 isotope, is used as fuel in nuclear reactors.
In order to enrich this uranium for use as nuclear fuel, the uranium that is mined from the earth must be converted into - uranium oxide or "yellow cake.
" 2.
The yellow cake is then converted to UF6 gas through a multi-step chemical process involving chemicals such as nitric acid, ammonium-hydroxide, hydrogen, hydrofluoric acid and fluorine.
3.
The resulting UF6 gas is then passed through an enrichment process at an enrichment facility.
In the- enrichment process, the U235 atoms present in the UF6 gas are enriched from their naturally-occurring level of 0.
7% of the uranium mass to 3-5%.
4.
The enriched UF6 is then converted into uranium oxide and fabricated into nuclear fuel.
5.
However, during the enrichment process approximately 90% of the UF6 emerges as depleted UF6 tails (as mentioned above), which contain greatly-reduced levels of U235.
The depleted UF6 tails have historically been stored in large (typically 14-ton) steel cylinders.
In fact, in the United States there is already over 1.
6 billion pounds of stored UF6 tails in existence.
And notably, the estimated generation of depleted UF6 outside the U.
S.
exceeds 250 million pounds per year.
Several companies have announced that they are evaluating, planning, or building, new uranium enrichment facilities in the U.
S.
When these facilities are completed, at their initial stated capacity, they will produce in excess of approximately 80 million pounds per year of depleted UF6.
The proper management and storage of these domestically-produced depleted UF6 tails will become an -important issue confronting the nuclear industry.
Fortunately, a newly-patented de-conversion process, called the Fluorine Extraction Process (FEP), will be able to process these uranium tails into a form more conducive to long-term storage.
At the same time, the process will be able to extract the fluoride in the form of important commercial products.
This will be done in such an efficient manner that it will save the emission of millions of pounds of CO2 emissions as compared to production of those fluoride products by conventional means.
FEP can be used to produce a variety of fluoride gases, including boron trifluoride (BF3), germanium tetrafluoride (GeF4), silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4), and possibly several others.
These specialty gases are in ever-increasing demand for ion-implantation, etchants, and chemical vapor deposition processes for microelectronics components and solar energy applications and organic complexes for the petroleum industry.
The FEP, therefore, represents a win-win scenario: depleted uranium tails are de-converted for safe disposal, while at the same time valuable fluoride gas is produced in the process.
This economic incentive for de-conversion will have beneficial effects for the environment and industry alike.
Building concerns about the effects of fossil fuels on the environment, in addition to other factors, are making the nuclear power option seem increasingly viable.
Before uranium can be used in nuclear power plants, it must first be enriched.
During that process, however, only 10% of the natural uranium entering the enrichment process is useable.
The remaining 90% is a by-product of the enrichment process and is referred to as "depleted" uranium or "tails.
" These depleted tails are in a chemically reactive form (UF6) and cannot be disposed - without chemical treatment.
They must either be stored perpetually in enormous steel drums - or it must be de-converted into non-reactive (or less-reactive) solids for safe disposal in landfills.
Historically, there has been no economic incentive for de-converting the depleted UF6 tails, and all of the depleted UF6 that has been created on U.
S.
soil has been simply stored on an ongoing basis since the early 1950's.
However, there is currently a shift taking place from foreign-based enrichment to domestic U.
S.
enrichment.
This shift will cause a massive buildup of these depleted tails at the commercial enrichment sites.
Fortunately, a new type of de-conversion process called the Fluorine Extraction Process (FEP) extracts high-purity fluoride compounds from depleted uranium during the de-conversion process, allowing new and useful products to be created as a result.
This new process helps to create an economic incentive for the de-conversion of the tails.
The Fuel Cycle and Depleted Uranium To understand the role of de-conversion and how the FEP can accomplish it more efficiently than with traditional de-conversion processes, a short overview of the nuclear fuel cycle is in order: 1.
A form of uranium, enriched in the U235 isotope, is used as fuel in nuclear reactors.
In order to enrich this uranium for use as nuclear fuel, the uranium that is mined from the earth must be converted into - uranium oxide or "yellow cake.
" 2.
The yellow cake is then converted to UF6 gas through a multi-step chemical process involving chemicals such as nitric acid, ammonium-hydroxide, hydrogen, hydrofluoric acid and fluorine.
3.
The resulting UF6 gas is then passed through an enrichment process at an enrichment facility.
In the- enrichment process, the U235 atoms present in the UF6 gas are enriched from their naturally-occurring level of 0.
7% of the uranium mass to 3-5%.
4.
The enriched UF6 is then converted into uranium oxide and fabricated into nuclear fuel.
5.
However, during the enrichment process approximately 90% of the UF6 emerges as depleted UF6 tails (as mentioned above), which contain greatly-reduced levels of U235.
The depleted UF6 tails have historically been stored in large (typically 14-ton) steel cylinders.
In fact, in the United States there is already over 1.
6 billion pounds of stored UF6 tails in existence.
And notably, the estimated generation of depleted UF6 outside the U.
S.
exceeds 250 million pounds per year.
Several companies have announced that they are evaluating, planning, or building, new uranium enrichment facilities in the U.
S.
When these facilities are completed, at their initial stated capacity, they will produce in excess of approximately 80 million pounds per year of depleted UF6.
The proper management and storage of these domestically-produced depleted UF6 tails will become an -important issue confronting the nuclear industry.
Fortunately, a newly-patented de-conversion process, called the Fluorine Extraction Process (FEP), will be able to process these uranium tails into a form more conducive to long-term storage.
At the same time, the process will be able to extract the fluoride in the form of important commercial products.
This will be done in such an efficient manner that it will save the emission of millions of pounds of CO2 emissions as compared to production of those fluoride products by conventional means.
FEP can be used to produce a variety of fluoride gases, including boron trifluoride (BF3), germanium tetrafluoride (GeF4), silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4), and possibly several others.
These specialty gases are in ever-increasing demand for ion-implantation, etchants, and chemical vapor deposition processes for microelectronics components and solar energy applications and organic complexes for the petroleum industry.
The FEP, therefore, represents a win-win scenario: depleted uranium tails are de-converted for safe disposal, while at the same time valuable fluoride gas is produced in the process.
This economic incentive for de-conversion will have beneficial effects for the environment and industry alike.
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