In uranium

The formula is fair for cases, when volume of metal is most less than volume of filling. For example, the volume of uranium makes up a few percents from volume of graphite in uranium - graphite fuel element and Wo 80 %. 

The control technique of fuel distribution in uranium - graphite fiael elements seems to be most perform. The technique allows to determine weight of uranium or its connections in a chosen zone of fuel elements. There were used the sources of radiation on a basis radionuclide Am. The weight of uranium in fuel element or its parts is determined by combine processing of a tomograms, set received on several parallel layers of fuel element. The comparative results of tomographic researches and chemical analysis of weight of uranium in quarters of spherical fuel elements are resulted in the table. 

Care must be taken in handling radon, as with other radioactive materials. The main hazard is from inhalation of the element and its solid daughters which are collected on dust in the air. Good ventilation should be provided where radium, thorium, or actinium is stored to prevent build-up of the element. Radon build-up is a health consideration in uranium mines. Recently radon build-up in homes has been a concern. Many deaths from lung cancer are caused by radon exposure. In the U.S. it is recommended that remedial action be taken if the air in homes exceeds 4 pCi/1. 

Uranium Extraction from Ore Leach Liquors. Liquid—Hquid extraction is used as an alternative or as a sequel to ion exchange in the selective removal of uranium [7440-61-1] from ore leach Hquors (7,265,271). These Hquors differ from reprocessing feeds in that they are relatively dilute in uranium and only slightly radioactive, and contain sulfuric acid rather than nitric acid. 

The nuclear reactor is a device in which a controlled chain reaction takes place involving neutrons and a heavy element such as uranium. Neutrons are typically absorbed in uranium-235 [15117-96-17, or plutonium-239 [15117 8-5], Pu, nuclei. These nuclei spHt, releasing two fission fragment nuclei... 

Geochemical Nature and Types of Deposits. The cmst of the earth contains approximately 2—3 ppm uranium. AlkaHc igneous rock tends to be more uraniferous than basic and ferromagnesian igneous rocks (10). Elemental uranium oxidizes readily. The solubiHty and distribution of uranium in rocks and ore deposits depend primarily on valence state. The hexavalent uranium ion is highly soluble, the tetravalent ion relatively insoluble. Uraninite, the most common mineral in uranium deposits, contains the tetravalent ion (II). 

Several components are required in the practical appHcation of nuclear reactors (1 5). The first and most vital component of a nuclear reactor is the fuel, which is usually uranium slightly enriched in uranium-235 [15117-96-1] to approximately 3%, in contrast to natural uranium which has 0.72% Less commonly, reactors are fueled with plutonium produced by neutron absorption in uranium-238 [24678-82-8]. Even more rare are reactors fueled with uranium-233 [13968-55-3] produced by neutron absorption in thorium-232 (see Nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel reserves). The chemical form of the reactor fuel typically is uranium dioxide, UO2, but uranium metal and other compounds have been used, including sulfates, siUcides, nitrates, carbides, and molten salts. 

The role of the reactor may be either as a converter, which produces some plutonium by neutron absorption in uranium-238 but depends on uranium-235 for most of the fission, or as a breeder, which contains a large amount of plutonium and produces more fissile material than it consumes. Breeding is also possible using uranium-233 produced by neutron absorption in thorium-232. 

Other fuel besides that from U.S. commercial reactors may be disposed of in the ultimate repository. PossibiUties are spent fuel from defense reactors and fuel from research reactors outside of the United States. To reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the United States has urged that research reactors reduce fuel enrichment in uranium-235 from around 90 to 20%. The latter fuel could not be used in a weapon. The United States has agreed to accept spent fuel from these reactors. 

Most of the phosphate esters are used in the production of hydrauHc fluids (qv), plastic and elastomer additives, flame retardants (qv), oil stabilizers, pesticides (qv), and medicinal intermediates (see Surfactants). Some trialkyl phosphates, OP(OR)2, are outstanding solvents for nitrates, especially (UO2) (N02)2, and therefore are important in uranium processing (see Extraction). 

Plutonium occurs in natural ores in such small amounts that separation is impractical. The atomic ratio of plutonium to uranium in uranium ores is less than 1 10 however, traces of primordial plutonium-244 have been isolated from the mineral bastnasite (16). One sample contained 1 x 10 g/g ore, corresponding to a plutonium-244 [14119-34-7] Pu, terrestrial abundance of 7 x 10 to 2.8 x 10 g/g of mineral and to <10g of primordial Pu on earth. The content of plutonium-239 [15117 8-3], Pu, in uranium minerals is given in Table 2. 

ThSiO "Th and Th are present in naturally occurring uranium Th and Th occur in uranium minerals as members of the decay chain. The remaining isotopes are formed upon neutron bombardment of those isotopes discussed, or by charged particle bombardment of various targets. 

Uranium-235 Enrichment. The enrichment of uranium is expressed as the weight percent of in uranium. For natural uranium the enrichment level is 0.72%. Many appHcations of uranium requite enrichment levels above 0.72%, such as nuclear reactor fuel (56,57). Normally for lightwater nuclear reactors (LWR), the 0.72% natural abundance of is enriched to 2—5% (9,58). There are special cases such as materials-testing reactors, high flux isotope reactors, compact naval reactors, or nuclear weapons where enrichment of 96—97% is used. 

Carbonates. Actinide carbonate complexes are of interest not only because of their fundamental chemistry and environmental behavior (150), but also because of extensive industrial appHcations, primarily in uranium recovery from ores and nuclear fuel reprocessing. 

M. Gascoyne, in Uranium Series Disequilibrium Applications to Environmental Problems, ed. M. Ivanovich and R. S. Hannon, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1982, pp. 32-55. 

M. Scott, in Uranium Series Disequilihria Applications to Environmental Problems, ed. M. 

Fig. 5.8. (a) Packing of the unequally sized ions of sodium chloride to give a f.c.c. structure KCl and MgO pack in the same v/ay. (b) Packing of ions in uranium dioxide this is more complicated than in NaCi because the U and O ions are not in 1 1 ratio. 

DATA nOUNDARY Dual-diaphragm pumps in uranium solution service. 

This paper describes a reliability analysis of dual - diaphragm pumps in uranium solution service. It is part of the output from a failure modes and effects analysis of the design for a system to be installed at the Oak Ridge Y-12 plant. The study involved collecting data on pumps with Viton and Teflon diaphragms at 10 gpm and 15 gpm. 

In 1895 Ramsay also identified helium as the gas previously found occluded in uranium minerals and mistakenly reported as nitrogen. Five years later he and Travers isolated helium from samples of atmospheric neon. 

The final member of the group, actinium, was identified in uranium minerals by A. Debieme in 1899, the year after P. and M. Curie had discovered polonium and radium in the same minerals. However, the naturally occurring isotope, Ac, is a emitter with a half-life of 21.77 y and the intense y activity of its decay products makes it difficult to study. 

With the exception of actinium, which is found naturally only in traces in uranium ores, these elements are by no means rare though they were once thought to be so Sc 25, Y 31, La 35 ppm of the earth s crustal rocks, (cf. Co 29ppm). This was, no doubt, at least partly because of the considerable difficulty experienced in separating them from other constituent rare earths. As might be expected for class-a metals, in most of their minerals they are associated with oxoanions such as phosphate, silicate and to a lesser extent carbonate. 

Apart from the unstable (half-life 2.623 y) of which traces occur in uranium ores, the lanthanides are actually not rare. Cerium (66 ppm in the earth s crust) is the twenty-sixth most abundant of all elements, being half as abundant as Cl and 5 times as abundant as Pb. Even Tm (0.5 ppm), the rarest after Pm, is rather more abundant in the earth s crust than is iodine. 

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