Uranium dissolution

Following dissolution, uranium and technetium are recovered from the feed in separate product streams. 

Ura.nium, The hydrometallurgical treatment of uranium ores is a concentration and purification process. Typical ore grade is 0.1—0.5% U Og, and pregnant solutions contain ca 1 kg/m of U Og. The dissolution requires the presence of an oxidant, either oxygen or a ferric salt. 

The rate (kinetics) and the completeness (fraction dissolved) of oxide fuel dissolution is an inverse function of fuel bum-up (16—18). This phenomenon becomes a significant concern in the dissolution of high bum-up MO fuels (19). The insoluble soHds are removed from the dissolver solution by either filtration or centrifugation prior to solvent extraction. Both financial considerations and the need for safeguards make accounting for the fissile content of the insoluble soHds an important challenge for the commercial reprocessor. If hydrofluoric acid is required to assist in the dissolution, the excess fluoride ion must be complexed with aluminum nitrate to minimize corrosion to the stainless steel used throughout the facility. Also, uranium fluoride complexes are inextractable and formation of them needs to be prevented. 

In most ores, sufficient Fe is already present. For some ores, it is necessary to add metallic iron. In practice, the oxidation potential of the solution can be monitored and controlled using the Fe /Fe ratio. Very high leaching efficiencies with H2SO ate common, eg, 95—98% dissolution yield of uranium (39). If acid consumption exceeds 68 kg/1 of ore treated, alkaline leaching is preferred. The comparative costs of acid, sodium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate differ widely in different areas and are the determining factor. 

Acid Leaching. DHect acid leaching for vanadium recovery is used mainly for vanadium—uranium ores and less extensively for processing spent catalyst, fly ash, and boiler residues. Although 20 in spent catalysts dissolves readily in acid solutions, the dissolution of vanadium from ores and... 

Australian Vanadium—Uranium Ore. A calcareous camotite ore at YeeHrrie, AustraHa, is iU-suited for salt roasting and acid leaching. Dissolution of vanadium and uranium by leaching in sodium carbonate solution at elevated temperature and pressure has been tested on a pilot-plant scale... 

Uranium. tetrathiocyanatotetrakis[tris-(dimethylamino)phosphine oxide]-structure, 1.87 Uranium carbide nuclear fuels dissolution, 6, 928 Uranium complexes, 3,1131-1215 carbamic acid... 

Kigoshi K (1971) Alpha-recoil thorium-234 dissolution into water and the uranium-234/iuanium-238 disequilibrium in nature. Science 173 47-48... 

The dissolution of uranium minerals which may contain U(IV) and U(VI) in U-H20 systems is only achieved with the difficulty through the reactions as shown below ... 

In the fertilizer manufacturing scheme, the wet process phosphoric acid most commonly ensues from dissolution of sedimentary phosphate rock in sulfuric acid. Such acid solution contains around 1 g 1 1 uranium which is recovered as the byproduct. This task is accomplished by three well-proven extraction processes, some salient details of which are presented in Table 5.10. 

Johnson, K. etal., 6thNucl. Eng. Sci. Conf., New York, 1960. Reprint Paper No. 23 Uranium may ignite or explode during dissolution in bromine trifluoride, particularly when high concentrations of the hexafluoride are present. Causative factors are identified. 

As the data in Fig. 5.12 show, and as was pointed out by Bruno et at. (1991), the half time for the dissolution reaction of U02 in the pH-range of most natural waters and under reducing conditions is in the order of days. If we compare this with typical residence times of undisturbed ground waters (years) we can conclude that the dissolution of U02(s) and the mobility of uranium under these conditions is thermodynamically and not kinetically controlled. 

Iodine is also given off to a small extent in dissolving the uranium metal in nitric acid, but larger amounts may be obtained on steam distillation after dissolution (5). Ruthenium is often removed from the fission products by distillation of the volatile tetroxide formed by oxidation with potassium permangate, sodium bismuthate, periodic acid (38) etc. The distillation goes readily and gives a product of good purity. 

Both humic acids and fulvic acids have a strong affinity for particulate and crystalline substances possessing oxygen atoms at their surfaces and they have been reported to bring about the dissolution of iron phosphate, calcium phosphate (61), uranium dioxide (65), hydrated magnesium alumino-silicates (66) and limonite, a complex mixture of hydrated ferric oxides (67). 

Similar ages were obtained on Athabasca Basin deposits for mineralizations located in the vicinity of the unconformity or partly in the basement (McArthur River or Cigar Lake for example). The oldest ages obtained on uranium oxides from several deposits (i.e, Alexandre et al. 2009) have not been obtained in the present study. Such a feature could be linked either to lack of uranium deposition in the basement during this period or to the dissolution of the first U-oxides generations by later fluid circulation events. 

Disequilibrium in uranium deposits relates to the chemical dissolution and redeposition (usually by groundwater) of uranium prior to the time required for that uranium to generate the radiometric daughter products from the natural decay of uranium isotopes (U-238 and U-235)... 

Since the water movement will be very slow compared with the rate at which the wastes dissolve, we are concerned first and foremost with equilibrium solubility. Also, if only to relate behaviour on the geological time scale to that on the laboratory time scale, we will need to know about the mechanisms and kinetics of dissolution and leaching. The waste forms envisaged at present are glass blocks containing separated fission products and residual actinides fused into the glass and, alternatively, the uranium dioxide matrix of the used fuel containing unseparated fission products and plutonium. In the... 

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